p.^ 


5 


i*6  4 


'^m^w.0r^^<.Mmm 


v 


LIBRARY 

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Caesar's  Commentaries. — Six 

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ship. 
Cicero  on  Oratory, 
Cicero's  Select  Orations. 
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Cornelius  Nepos^  complete. 
Horace^  complete. 
Tuvenal's  Satires,  complete. 
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Ovid's     Metamorphoses.— 
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laria. 
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ola. 
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Viri  Romae.  Schiller's  William  Tell. 

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DAVID  McKAY,  Publisher,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


Aeschylus'Prometheus  Bound 
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Demosthenes'  Olynthiacs  and 
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Euripides*  Alcestis  andElectra. 

Euripides'  Medea. 

Herodotus. — Books  6  and  7. 

Homer's  Iliad.— Nine  Books. 

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Books. 

Lysias'  Select  Orations. 

Plato's  Apology,  Crito  and 
Phaedo. 

Plato's  Gorgias. 

Sophocles'  Oedipus  Tyrannus, 
Electra,  and  Antigone. 

Xenophon's  Anabasis. — Five 
Books. 

Xenophon's  Memorabilia, 
complete. 

Goethe's  Egmont. 

Goethe's  Faust. 

Goethe's  Hermann  and  Doro- 
thea.^ 

Lessing's  Minna  von  Barn- 
helm. 

Lessing's  Nathan  the  "Wise. 


CEDIPUS  TYRANNUS, 
ELECTRA,  AND  ANTIGONE 

OP 

SOPHOCLES. 

THE   OXFORD   TRANSLATION. 

REVISED  EDITION,  WITH  NOTES. 

WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION   BY 

EDWARD    BROOKS,    Jr. 


PHILADELPHIA : 

DAVID   McKAY,  Publisher, 

1022  Market  Street. 


Copyriglit,  1897,  by  David  McKay. 


INTRODUCTION. 


Of  the  three  most  eminent  Greek  dramatic  writers 
iEschylus,  Sophocles  and  Euripides,  the  palm  should  be 
awarded  to  Sophocles.  To  ^schylus  is  due  the  credit  of 
the  greatest  development  of  the  drama,  but  Sophocles,  so 
perfected  and  finished  the  development  which  his  prede- 
cessor began,  that  his  successor,  Euripides,  was  unable 
to  add  anj^thing  in  the  way  of  improvement,  and  indeed 
to  the  latter  has  been  frequently  attributed  the  downfall 
of  Greek  tragedy. 

Sophocles  was  born  at  Colonos,  a  small  village  near 
Athens,  in  the  j^ear  495  B.C.  His  father,  Sophilus,  was 
a  man  of  good  family  and  possessed  of  a  considerable  for- 
tune. He  spared  no  expense  in  giving  his  son  a  liberal 
education.  Among  the  early  instructors  of  the  poet  was 
Lamprus,  the  famous  musician,  under  whose  teaching 
Sophocles  became  so  proficient  in  the  art  of  music  that 
when  but  fifteen  he  was  chosen  to  play  an  accompaniment 
on  the  lyre  to  the  paean  sung  in  celebration  of  the  vic- 
tory at  Salamis.  It  is  thought  by  some  that  he  also  com- 
posed the  words  of  the  p^an. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-seven  he  made  his  first  appear- 
ance as  a  dramatic  writer,  competing  in  the  tragic  contests 

2056201         *'^ 


vi  INTRODUCTION. 

held  at  the  festival  of  Dionysia.  On  this  occasion  he  won 
the  prize  over  ^schylus,  who  had  been  the  undoubted 
master  of  the  Athenian  stage  for  over  thirty  years,  and 
gained  a  supremacy  which  he  maintained  until  Euripides, 
in  his  turn,  was  successful  over  him  twenty-seven  years 
later. 

Sophocles  lived  to  the  age  of  ninety,  dying  in  405  B.C. 
During  his  lifetime  he  held  various  offices  of  honor  and 
distinction.  So  pleased  were  his  countrymen  upon  the 
occasion  of  his  exhibiting  the  "Antigone  "  that  they  se- 
lected him  to  act  as  the  colleague  of  Pericles  and  Thucy- 
dides  in  the  war  against  Samos.  Later  on  he  was  made 
priest  of  Halon  and  was  also  one  of  the  committee  of 
public  safety. 

He  is  said  to  have  written  one  hundred  and  thirteen 
dramas,  of  which,  however,  only  seven  have  come  down 
to  us  complete.  His  later  j^ears  were  made  unhappy  by 
an  attempt  on  the  part  of  his  son  to  have  him  declared 
feeble-minded.  His  only  defence  was  to  read  to  his  judges 
portions  of  a  drama  which  he  had  just  composed,  upon 
hearing  which  the  case  was  dismissed  and  his  son  rebuked 
for  his  unfilial  conduct. 

In  the  following  pages  will  be  found  translations  of 
three  of  the  greatest  of  the  poet's  works,  the  "  (Edipus 
Tyrannus,"  the  "Electra"  and  the  "Antigone." 

The  first  of  these  tragedies  is  based  upon  the  legendary 
story  of  (Edipus,  the  son  of  Laius,  King  of  Thebes,  and 
his  wife,  Jocasta,  at  whose  birth  it  was  predicted  that  one 
day  he  would  murder  his  father  and  marry  his  own 
mother.  In  order  to  render  impossible  the  fulfilment  of 
this  prophesy,  the  young  child  was  exposed  in  the  mouo- 


INTRODUCTION.  vii 

tains,  that  he  might  die,  but  was  discovered  by  some 
shepherds  and  taken  to  Corinth,  where  he  was  educated. 
Being  taunted  with  being  the  supposititious  child  of  the 
king  of  that  country,  he  journeyed  to  Thebes,  and  meet-" 
ing  with  Laius,  whom  he  did  not  know,  and  a  quarrel  en- 
suing, Q^dipus  unwittingly  slew  him.  On  arriving  at 
Thebes  he  found  the  city  under  the  bane  of  the  Sphinx, 
who  was  harrassing  the  Thebans  by  killing  all  those  who 
tried  but  failed  to  solve  the  riddle  she  propounded.  (Edi- 
pus  solved  the  riddle,  and  as  a  reward  was  made  ruler 
over  Thebes  in  place  of  Laius,  and  married  the  widowed 
Jocasta,  thus  fulfilling  the  fatal  prediction. 

The  play  opens  at  a  time  when  the  Thebans  are  suffer- 
ing from  a  terrible  plague  which  has  afflicted  them  for  a 
long  time.  Creon,  brother  of  Jocasta,  has  been  sent  to 
consult  the  oracle  of  Apollo  by  what  deed  the  city  may 
be  delivered  from  the  pestilence.  Creon,  returning,  an- 
nounces that  the  deliverance  can  only  be  brought  about 
by  the  detection  and  punishment  of  the  assassins  of  King 
Laius.  In  order  to  learn  by  whose  hand  Laius  had  died, 
it  is  suggested  that  Tiresias,  the  blind  soothsayer,  be  con- 
sulted. Tiresias  refuses  absolutely  to  disclose  who  the 
assassin  is,  which  so  greatly  angers  Oedipus  that,  in  his 
rage,  he  accuses  Tiresias  himself  with  having  done  the 
deed.  Stung  by  this  accusation,  Tiresias  charges  (Edi- 
pus  with  being  the  perpetrator  of  the  crime.  This  the 
more  enrages  (Edipus,  who  now  accuses  Creon  with  con- 
spiring with  the  soothsayer  to  overthrow  him  in  order 
that  he  might  succeed  him  as  ruler  of  Thebes.  The  quarrel 
of  the  two  princes  is  interrupted  by  the  arrival  of  Jocasta, 
who,  endeavoring  to  pacify  the  strife,  inadvertently  re- 


viii  INTRODUCTION. 

lates  the  story  of  tlie  birth  of  CEdipus  and  the  fatal  pre- 
diction and  describes  the  place  where  Laius  is  alleged  to 
have  been  killed  by  foreign  robbers.  The  first  inkling  of 
the  truth  then  begins  to  dawn  upon  the  mind  of  (Edipus. 
He  questions  Jocasta  as  to  the  appearance  of  Laius,  and 
her  answers  are  by  no  means  reassuring.  At  this  mo- 
ment a  messenger  arrives  bringing  the  intelligence  of  the 
death  of  Polj'bus,  King  of  Corinth,  and  inviting  (Edipus 
to  return  and  rule  over  that  countr3^  (Edipus  refusing, 
out  of  fear  that  the  fatal  prediction  may  be  fulfilled,  the 
messenger  declares  that  he  is  not  the  son  of  Polybus,  but 
that  he  is  a  foundling  from  the  bushy  dells  of  Cith?era3 
whither  he  had  been  placed  by  a  servant  of  Laius.  The 
frightful  truth  then  forces  itself  upon  the  mind  of  Jo- 
casta, and  she  rushes  from  the  scene  in  wild  despair.  The 
servant  is  summoned  and  confesses  that  the  child  he 
placed  upon  the  mountain  was  the  son  of  Laius  and  Jo- 
casta. A  messenger  then  appears,  announcing  that  Jo- 
casta has  hung  herself  (Edipus  rushes  to  her,  and  tear- 
ing from  her  dress  the  golden  clasps,  gouges  out  his  own 
eyes.  The  tragedy  ends  by  (Edipus  going  into  voluntary 
banishment,  after  persuading  Creon  to  look  after  and  care 
for  his  children. 

The  principal  characters  represented  in  the  "  Electra" 
are  Orestes,  son  of  Agamemnon,  his  sister  Electra,  CI3'- 
temnestra,  the  faithless  wife  of  Agamemnon  and  her  para- 
mour aEgisthus.  During  the  absence  of  the  Greeks  on 
their  expedition  against  Troy,  Clytemnestra,  the  wife  of 
Agamemnon,  proves  false  to  him,  and  on  his  return  she 
with  her  paramour,  ^Egisthus,  murders  him  at  a  ban- 
quet given  to  celebrate  his  home-coming.     It  was  the  in- 


INTRODUCTION.  ix 

tent  of  the  guilty  pair  to  slay  Orestes  also,  who,  although 
not  yet  of  an  age  to  excite  apprehension,  was  a  person 
who  might  prove  dangerous  in  after  years.  His  life  is, 
however,  saved  by  his  sister  sending  him  secretly  to  his 
uncle  Strophius,  King  of  Phocis,  in  whose  palace  he  was 
reared  with  his  cousin  Pylades.  Being  reminded  fre- 
quently by  his  sister  of  his  duty  to  avenge  his  father's 
death,  Orestes  disguises  himself  as  a  messenger  from 
Strophius,  and  repairs  to  the  court  of  Clytemnestra,  an- 
nouncing the  death  of  Orestes  and  bringing  with  him  his 
own  funeral  ashes.  Having  thus  allayed  the  fears  of  the 
murderers,  he  discloses  himself  to  Electra,  and  subse- 
quently kills  Clytemnestra  and  ^Egisthus.  Perhaps  the 
most  exquisite  part  of  this  play  is  the  scene  between 
Orestes  and  Electra,  when  the  former,  mistaking  his 
sister  for  a  domestic  and  desirous  of  keeping  his  arrival 
a  secret,  shows  her  the  urn  in  which  his  own  ashes  are 
supposed  to  rest,  and  causes  Electra  to  pour  forth  her 
grief  in  language  full  of  tenderness  and  despair. 

In  the  "  Antigone  "  the  principal  persons  represented 
are  x\ntigone  and  Ismene,  daughters  of  Glldipus  and  Jo- 
casta,  their  uncle,  Creon,  brother  of  Jocasta,  and  H^emon, 
his  son,  who  is  in  love  with  Antigone.  After  the  banish- 
ment of  (Edipus  from  Thebes,  his  two  sons,  Eteocles  and 
Polynices,  agreed  to  share  the  kingdom  between  them  and 
reign  alternately  year  by  year.  The  choice  of  reigning  the 
first  year  fell  by  lot  to  Eteocles  who,  on  the  expiration  of 
his  term,  refused  to  surrender  the  kingdom  to  his  brother. 
Polynices,  thereupon,  fled  to  Adrastus,  King  of  Argos. 
Having  married  his  daughter,  he  persuaded  him  to  lend 
him  an  army  to  make  an  attack  upon  Thebes,  and  thus 
I* 


X  INTRODUCTION. 

enforce  his  claim  to  the  kingdom.  This  gave  rise  to  the 
famous  expedition  known  as  the  ' '  Seven  againstThebes, ' ' 
which  is  made  the  subject  of  a  tragedy  by  Euripides.  The 
siege  which  ensued  was  long  drawn  out  with  successes  on 
each  side.  At  length  it  was  agreed  that  the  two  brothers 
should  decide  the  issue  by  single  combat.  In  the  duel 
which  resulted  both  combatants  were  killed,  and  there- 
upon the  contending  armies  again  took  up  the  fight,  but 
the  invaders  were  finally  repulsed  with  great  loss.  Creon 
then  assumed  control  over  Thebes  and  decided  that  the 
body  of  Eteocles  should  be  buried  with  distinguished 
honor,  but  that  Polynices  should  lie  where  he  fell,  and 
forbade  any  one  to  accord  him  funeral  rites,  on  pain  of 
death.  Antigone  rebelled  at  the  decree  which  consigned 
her  brother's  body  to  the  dogs  and  vultures,  and  though 
dissuaded  by  her  afi'ectionate  but  timorous  sister,  Ismene, 
and  unable  to  procure  assistance,  resolved  to  bury  her 
brother  with  her  own  hands.  Being  detected  in  the  act, 
despite  the  intervention  of  her  lover  H^emon,  she  was  or- 
dered to  be  buried  alive.  Hasmon,  unable  to  bear  the 
misery  of  surviving  his  loved  Antigone,  took  his  own 
life.  His  mother,  Eurydice,  also  destroys  herself,  calling 
down  maledictions  upon  the  murderer  of  Antigone  and 
Haemon,  and  not  until  then  does  Creon  repent  his  cruelty. 


(EDIPUS  TYRANNUS. 


ARGUMENT. 

CEdipus  was  reproached  with  being  the  supposititious  child 
of  Polybus,  the  king  of  Corinth,  and  in  disgust  exiled  him- 
self, and  went  to  Thebes.  Here  he  solved  the  riddle  of  the 
Sphinx,  and  as  a  reward  received  the  kingdom,  and  the  hand 
of  the  queen  Jocasta  in  marriage.  A  long  plague  ravaged 
Thebes,  and,  on  Creon  being  sent  to  Delphi,  the  murderer  of 
Laius,  the  former  king  of  Thebes,  was  denounced  as  the 
cause  of  the  evil.  In  his  anxiety  to  discover  the  murderer, 
and  through  the  statements  of  Tiresias,  corroborated  by 
those  of  certain  old  servants,  G^dipus  made  the  fearful  dis- 
covery that  he  had  been  exposed  in  childhood,  to  avert  an 
awful  prophecy,  which  he  had  unwittingly  fulfilled  in  the 
murder  of  his  father  La'ius  on  his  way  from  Corinth  to 
Thebes,  and  in  his  subsequent  cohabitation  with  his  mother 
Jocasta.  Jocasta  hung  herself,  and  CEdipus,  in  despair,  tore 
out  his  eyes. — B. 


DKAMATIS  PERSON.E. 


CEdipus.i 

Priest. 

Creon. 

Chorus  of  Aged  Thebans. 

Tiresias. 


Jocasta. 
Messenger. 
Servant  of  Laius. 
Messenger  extraordinary. 


CEdipus.  My  children,  youthful  generation  of  Cadmus  of 
old,  what  can  be   [the  meaning  of]   these  sittings  ye  are 

1  ArriaU;  ap.  Stob.  S.  97.  28,  hints  that  both  the  (Edipi  were 
personated  by  Polus,  a  distinguished  actor,  of  whom  Gellius 
makes  mention,  7.  5. 


12  CEDIPUS  TVR ANNUS.  [3-15. 

thronging^  hither  before  me,  decorated  with  suppliant 
branches?  while  the  cit}^  is  at  the  same  time  fraught  with 
incense-offerings,  and  at  the  same  time  with  both  pa?an- 
liymns  and  wailings.  Which  things,  I  thinking  it  my  duty 
not  to  hear  from  others,  and  those  messengers,^  my  children, 
have  myself  come  hither  ;  I,  Oedipus,  styled  by  alP  the  Illus- 
trious. But,  O  aged  man,  say,  since  it  naturally  becomes 
thee  to  speak  on  behalf  of  these,  in  what  mood  ye  stand  af- 
fected, fearing,*  or  earnestly  seeking  ;  since  I  would  willingly 
give  you  every  succor  ;  for  I  were  unfeeling  not  to  compas- 
sionate a  meeting  such  as  this. 

Priest.  But,  O  Oedipus,  thou  who  rulest  over  my  country, 
us  indeed  thou  beholdest,  of  Avhat  ages  are  we  who  sit  as 

1  The  word  "thronsiug"  takes  in  both  the  ideas  usually  ap- 
plied to  this  word.  Wuuder  takes  it  merely  to  mean  "sitting, 
occupying,"  and  so  Buttmann,  Lexil.  sub  voc.  Cf.  yEsch.  Suppl. 
595.  Others  render  it  "  hurrying."  The  word  is  probably 
akin  to  do6-.     See  Erfurdt,  and  Liddel's  Lexicon.     B. 

'^  So  Wander,  quoting  Eur.  Orest.  5.31,  ri  [laprvpwv  aWoiv  uko- 
v£iv  hi  fi'  a  y'  iiaopdv  irapa.  This  corresponds  to  the  Latin  exe- 
getical  use  of  adeo.  But  perhaps  aWwv  is  merely  redundant  in 
opposition  to  airo-.     B. 

^  From  the  position  of  -am  it  might  not  be  improper  to 
translate  "the  all-illustrious."  with  a  construction  like  that 
of  V.  40.  See  also  (Ed.  Col.  1446.  Te. — This  verse  might  more 
poetically  be  rendered,  "I,  CEdipus,  by  all  illustrious  height." 
It  is  condemned  by  Wuuder  as  spurious.     B. 

*  I  have  preserved  the  participles,  to  make  the  translation 
of  this  awkward  passage  more  clear.  After  the  remarks  of 
Wuuder,  it  seems  evident  that  hiaavre'  denotes /mr  wliich  led 
these  suppliants,  artpyeiv,  to  seek  for  assistance.  As  a-ipyeiv  is 
used  to  denote  a  passive  content  or  satisfaction  (see  Blomf.  on 
^Esch.  Prom,  ii.),  so  it  may  pass  to  another  signification,  by 
which  we  are  said  to  sceli  those  things  which  we  should  be 
pleased  to  have.  In  OEd.  C.  518,  we  find  orcpfoi/  explained  by 
-eidov  immediately  following,  which  is  just  the  reverse  of  the 
present  sense.  Otherwise,  we  mio^ht  render  the  passa.se;  "are 
ye  fearing  an  impending,  or  enduring  a  present  evil?"  (So 
St.  Gregory,  Horn.  i.  in  Ev.  ^  1,  "Ex  quibus  profecto  omnibus 
alia  jam  facta  ceruimus,  alia  e  proximis  venturaformidamus.") 
Some  may  regard  this  as  a  frigid  antithesis,  but  CEdipus.  like 
Puff's  hero  in  "The  Critic,"  does  not  ask  for  information  for 
himself,  but  for  the  benefit  of  the  audience.     B. 


16-37.]  CEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  13 

suppliants  before  thine  altars  here  ;^  some  of  us  not  yet  of 
strength  to  wing  our  flight  afar  ;  other  priests  Aveighed  down 
with  old  age,  I  myself  the  priest  of  Jupiter  ;  and  these  other 
chosen  of  the  youths  :  but  the  rest  of  the  populace  decked 
with  branches,  is  seated  in  the  market-places,  and  near  both 
the  shrines  of  Pallas,  and  at  Ismenus'  ashes  of  divination, ^ 
For  the  city,  as  thou  thyself  behold,  is  now  over-roughly 
tossing,  and  from  the  depths  of  the  bloody  surge  can  no 
longer  lift  her  head  ;  withering  in  the  ripening  husks^  of  the 
soil,  withering  in  the  pasturing  herds  of  kine,  and  in  the  yet 
unborn  labors  of  women  :  and  the  fire-bearing  god,  most 
hated  pestilence,  having  darted  down,  ravages  the  city  ;  by 
Avhom  the  house  of  Cadmus  is  made  empty,  but  dark  Hades 
grows  rich  with  wailings  and  groans.  Now  I  and  these 
youths  here  are  seated  petitioners  by  the  house,  deeming 
thee  not  equal  to  the  gods,  but  of  men  the  first,  whether  for 
the  casualties  of  life,  or  the  interventions  of  the  gods.  Who, 
indeed,  when  thou  wast  come  to  Cadmus'  capital,  didst  put 
an  end  to  the  tribute  of  the  stern  chantress,  which  we  were 
furnishing  :  and  this  too  neither  knowing  nor  taught  by  us, 
any  strange  knowledge  ;*  but  by  the  prompting  of  god  thou 

^  The  altars  alluded  to  were  of  various  deities,  placed  by  in- 
dividuals before  their  houses,  as  patriotism  or  private  gratitude 
might  dictate.  See  the  Curculio  of  Plautus,  I.  i.  7;  Arist. 
Wasps,  875. 

2  "  Both  the  shrines."  Minerva  had  a  temple  at  Thebes  in 
virtue  of  her  name  Oncfea,  and  another  as  Ismenia,  which  lat- 
ter name  Apollo  also  bore,  and  presided  over  an  altar  of  burnt 
sacrifices. 

^  I  have  here  followed  Wunder.  iyKdinroi?-  raust  mean  the 
corn  just  ripened,  but  blighted  at  the  very  moment  of  burst- 
ing, TTEpi  (TITO'  EK^oXfji'^  {u  Thucyd.  iv.  1.  Soon  after  the  epithet 
dyihoisr  does  not  mean,  "abortive,"  but  "unborn,"  owing  to  the 
strength  of  the  mothers  failing.  Wunder  appositely  compares 
Herodot.  vi.  139.  Compare  also  Seneca,  CEdip.  Act.  i,  sc.  2,  v. 
33,  nay,  the  whole  description.     B. 

4  nXsov  can  not  mean  "any  thing  further,"  i.e.,  than  the  bare 
fact  of  the  riddle  proposed,  as  the  translators  have  supposed; 
but  n\£r]p  Eioevai  is  a  form  peculiarly  applied  to  the  possession 
of  occult  knowledge.  So  in  Nicolaus  Damascenus,  from  a  MS. 
in  the  Escurial,  fob  3  A,  6  Ba^v'Xojvio^,  el  J*?  n  -kXeXov  to.  QcXa  elScog, 
av/x^aWei  rhv  rov  ovtipov  (l>vinr]v.    And  of  Joseph's  skill  in  dreams, 


14  CEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  [38-74. 

art  reputed  and  believed  to  have  righted  our  condition. 
Now  too,  O  head  of  ffidipus,  owned  most  potent  by  all,  we 
implore  thee,  all  prostrate  here  before  thee,  to  tind  some 
help  for  us,  whether  thou,  by  hearing  the  voice  of  any  god, 
or  from  any  human  source,  knowest  such  :  since  to  the  ex- 
perienced I  observe  even  the  issues  of  their  counsels  to  be 
the  most  flourishing.  Go,  best  of  mortals,  re-establish  the 
state,  go,  take  good  counsel ;  since  at  present  indeed  this 
our  land  celebrates  thee  as  its  preserver  for  thy  former  zeal 
— and  may  we  in  no  wise  remember  thy  reign  for  our  having 
botk  regained  our  footing  and  afterward  fallen  ;  but  raise 
up  this  our  city  in  safety.  For  as  with  propitious  augury 
thou  didst  render  to  us  the  former  lucky  service,  so  in  the 
present  instance  be  equal  [to  thyself].  Since  if  in  sooth 
thou  wilt  govern  this  our  land,  as  thou  dost  sway  it,  it  is  a 
fairer  thing  to  rule  it  with  its  men,  than  desolate.  For 
neither  tower  nor  ship  is  aught,  if  destitute  of  men  dwell- 
ing therein. 

OEd.  My  children,  objects  of  my  pity,  you  have  come 
wishing  for  things  known,  and  not  unknown  to  me  ;  for  well 
am  I  aware  that  ye  are  all  sickening,^  and  sickening  though 
ye  be,  there  is  not  one  of  you  who  sicken  equally  with  me. 
For  your  affliction  falls  on  one  alone,  in  his  own  person  and 
on  none  other  ;  while  my  soul  sighs  at  once  both  for  the  city 
and  for  myself  and  for  you.  So  that  ye  awake  me  not  in- 
deed slumbering  in  repose,  but  know  that  I  already  have 
shed  many  tears,  have  traversed  many  paths  in  the  wander- 
ings of  thought ;  and  that  only  mode  of  cure  which  I  had 
discovered  by  careful  scrutiny,  that  have  I  put  in  execution. 
For  Creon,  the  son  of  Menoeceus,  my  kinsman  by  marriage,  I 
dispatched  to  the  Pythian  shrine  of  Apollo,  to  inquire  by 
what  deed  or  word  I  might  deliver  this  city.  And  the  day 
being  already  commensurate  with  the  time  [for  his  return], 
pains  me  for  his  fate,  since  beyond  reasonable  expectation 

Clemens  Alexandr.  Strom.  V.  p.  245,  38,  vhv  tovtov  s'^Xwcair^s 

oi  d(^£X0oi,  rrXeTov  ri  Trpoopojxcvov  Kara  rrjv   yvidcriv.      B. 

1  "Diseased"  is  certainly  literal,  but  an  equivocal  term  is 
required  to  express  the  bodily  disease  of  the  people,  and  the 
"  hearts'  aching  "  of  CEdipns  in  his  despair.  I  think  "  sicken  " 
better  expresses  this  double  sense  of  voaelv  than  "disease." 
Others  render  it  by  "being  distressed."     B. 


75-96. J  CEDIPUS  TYR ANNUS.  15 

he  is  away  longer  than  the  due  period.  But  whenever  he 
shall  have  arrived,  that  instant  I  were  a  villain  not  to  per- 
form to  the  full  all  that  the  god  may  reveal. 

Pr.  Nay,  thou  hast  both  well  said,  and  these  too  just 
now  signify  to  me  that  Creon  is  approaching. 

CEi).  Hear,  king  Apollo,  for  O  that  he  may  have  come 
with  some  saviour  fortune  at  least,  even  as  he  is  sparkling 
of  eye. 

Pr.  If  one  may  guess,  however,  he  is  welcome  ;  else  would 
he  not  be  coming  hithex,  his  head  thus  amply  wreathed  Avith 
all-fruitful  laurel.^ 

QLt>.  Quickly  shall  we  know,  for  he  is  within  reach  of 
hearing  us.  Prince,  my  relation,  son  of  Menoeceus,  what 
report  from  the  god  comest  thou  bringing  to  us  ? 

Creon.  Good :  for  I  assert  that  even  our  grievances, 
should  they  chance  to  have  their  issues  aright,  might  be  al- 
together fortunate.^ 

Q^D.  But  of  what  purport  is  the  oracle?^  Fori  am  neither 
emboldened,  nor  yet  prematurely  alarmed,  at  least  by  thy 
present  speech. 

Cr.  If  thou  choosest  to  hear  while  these  are  by,  I  am 
ready  to  tell  thee,  or  else  to  retire  within  doors. 

OEd.  Speak  out  to  all,  for  I  endure  more  suffering  for 
these  my  people  than  even  for  my  own  life. 

Cr.  I  will  say  what  I  have  heard  from  the  god.  King 
Phoebus  openly  enjoins  us  to  expel  from  the  country  a*  pol- 

^  The  laurel  crowu,  say  the  commentators,  was  the  privilege 
of  those  "  quibus  Isetse  sortes  obtlgerant."  Chremylus  in  the 
Phitus,  however,  will  hardly  allow  the  "  laetse  sortes"  to  be  his 
lot,  though  his  slave  wears  the  chaplet. 

'^  A  purposely  dark  auswer,  breathing  the  true  Loxian  spirit. 

^  Gr.  scTiu  OS  Tzolov  TovTtOi'^  Quid  hoc  sermonis  est?  Br. 
"What  mean  thy  words?"  Dale.  "ETrof  is  emphatically  an 
oracle,  and  moreover  the  expression  rw  ys  vvv  \oyw  would  be  a 
mere  repetition,  if  Brunck's  translation  were  correct.  In  the 
same  passage  the  opposition  of  Opaavg  to  npoSclaos  gives  con- 
firmation to  the  distinction  made  between  dpda-og  and  edpaog, 
audacia  and  fiducia.  Tr. — I  prefer  "  emboldened  "  to  "  rashly 
sanguine."    B. 

*  This  is  much  more  correct  than  "the  pollution."  It  was 
as  yet  unknown  what  the  pollution  was.  as  is  evident  from  the 


i6  CEDIPUS  TYRAXXUS.  [97-117. 

lution,  as  having  been  bred  in  this  our  land,  nor  to  foster 
what  is  incurable. 

CEd.  By  what  kind  of  purification  ?  What  is  the  manner 
of  the  evil  ? 

Cr.  By  banishing,  or  requiting  death  with  death,  since  the 
following  bloodshed  troubles  the  state.  ^ 

(Ed.  AVhv,  of  what  manner  of  man  does  he  indicate  this 
fate  ? 

Cr.  We  had  once,  O  king,  Laius  as  the  sovereign  of  this 
land,  ere  thou  didst  regulate  this  state. 

CEb.  I  knew  him  by  hearsay,  for  I  never  as  yet  saw  him 
at  least. 

Cr.  This  man  having  perished,  Apollo  now  clearly  gives 
one  orders  to  punish  his  assassins. - 

CEd.  But  where  on  eartli  are  these  same?  "Where  shall  be 
discovered  this  track  of  an  ancient  crime,  hard  to  conjecture? 

Cr.  He  said,  in  this  land.  But  what  is  searclied  for,  is  to 
be  got  at,  while  that  which  is  unregarded  escapes. 

(Ed.  But  is  it  in  the  house,  or  in  the  field,  or  in  another 
land,  that  Laius  encounters  this  bloody  death? 

Cr.  Quitting  home,  as  he  told  us,  to  consult  the  oracle, 
he  never  returned  home,  as  lie  had  departed. 

(Ed.  And  was  no  messenger,  nor  partaker  of  his  journey, 
a  witness  to  this,  from  whom  gaining  intelligence  one  might 
have  used  it? 

inquiry  of  CEdipus:  rts  6  rp6-os  rn^  ^"n/opas,  wliicli  has  been 
wrongiy  taken  to  mean,  "what  is  the  method  of  averting  the 
calamity?"    B. 

1  ToS'  alua  \f(//roi/  Tr6\t:'.  Although  the  translator  lias  not 
ventured  to  reudtr  this  otlierwise  than  Erfurdt,  Hermann, 
and  Elmsley  have  given  it,  i.e.,  as  an  accusative  absolute,  and 
with  the  word  rocs  referring  to  something  subsequent,  he  has 
still  a  doubt  whether  ^o-ri  might  not  be  understood,  and  the 
passage  construed  thus:  "Since  this  is  a  case  of  bloodshed 
troubling  the  city."  The  answer  of  CEdipus  will  then  run 
thus:  "How  so?  for  of  what  manner  of  man,"  etc.;  but  it 
hardly  seems  natural  that  CEdipus  should  interrupt  one  who 
indicated  (as  is  done  by  roh,  according  to  the  critics)  his  pur- 
pose of  immediately  proceeding  to  specify  the  murder.  Tr. — 
Another  translation  has  "  since  this  blood  is  as  pernicious  as 
winter  to  the  city."     B. 

2  But  see  my  note  on  v.  140.     B. 


1 1 8-143]  a':DIPUS  TVR  ANNUS.  17 

Cr.  No  ;  for  tliey  are  dead,  except  one  individual,  who, 
having  fled  in  terror,  could  tell  for  certain  nothing  he  saw, 
but  one  fact. 

CEd.  Of  wliat  nature  that  fact?  for  one  thing  might  find 
means  to  learn  many,  could  we  lay  hold  of  hut  a  slender 
foundation  of  hope. 

Cr.  He  said  that  robbers,  having  encountered  him,  slew 
him,  not  by  the  valor  of  one  arm,  but  with  a  number  of 
hands. 

(Ed.  How  then  would  the  bandit,  had  there  been  no  tam- 
perings  by  bribes  from  hence,  have  reached  such  a  pitch  of 
audacity  as  this? 

Cr.  This  was  suspected  ;  but  amid  disasters  there  came 
forward  no  one  as  the  avenger  of  Lai'us  now  no  more 

CEd.  But  what  kind  of  distress  interfering,  when  the  mon- 
arch^ had  thus  fallen,  checked  you  from  sifting  out  this 
matter  ? 

Cr.  The  Sphinx,  mysterious  songstress,  compelled  us  to 
look  to  that  which  was  before  our  feet,  having  abandoned 
what  was  obscure. 

CEd.  But  from  its  first  cause  will  I  bring  it  to  light  again. 
For  right  worthily  has  Phoebus,  and  worthily  luist  thou  set 
on  foot  this  present  examination  in  the  cause  of  the  deceased  : 
so  that  deservedly  ye  will  see  me  also  your  abettor,  avengmg 
at  once  my  land  here,  and  the  god.  For  in  behalf,  not  of 
my  more  distant  friends,  but  myself  of  myself,  shall  I  dis- 
perse this  pollution.  Since  whoever  it  was  that  murdered 
him,  he  might  perhaps  wish  to^  take  vengeance  on  me  too 
with  like  hand.  In  supporting  his  cause,  therefore,  I  advan- 
tage mtfself.     But  with  what  speed  ye  may,  my  children,  do 

^  I  prefer  taking  rvpawiSog  as  abstract  for  coucrete,  with  the 
old  translation.     B. 

2  This  is  certainly  the  usual  sense  of  rijXMpeXv.  But  Wunder 
thinks  the  sense  of  "slaying"  or  "  killing  "  more  suitable,  and 
thinks  that  in  v.  105,  >C£'pt  TijxMpeiv  conveys  the  like  idea. 
Granting,  as  I  do,  that  this  sense  is  more  suitable  (and  I  think 
defensible)  in  the  present  passage,  I  am  even  more  certain  of 
v.  140.  w'here,  in  rovg  aiiToiurag  X£'P'  TintopeXv  we  have  "death  for 
death"  implied  in  an  almost  proverbial  manner.     So  ^sch. 

Choeph.  312,  avrl  6e    Tr\riyf)i  'i>oi'iag  'i>oviai'    ]J\riyf]v   rti/ircj.    ipaaavTi 
TradetvTpiyepMv  jivdos  rade  (piovei.     Cf.  Eum.  264.     B. 


iS  CEDIPUS  TYRAXNUS.  [144-166. 

yon  on  your  part  arise  from  oS  your  seats, ^  taking  up  tiiese 
brandies  of  supplication ;  but  let  some  one  else  assemble 
hither  the  people  of  Cadmus,  since  I  purpose  to  take  every 
step.  For  we  will  prove  ourselves  either  with  heaven's  aid 
prosperous  or  undone. 

Pr.  My  children,  let  us  rise;  since  even  for  the  sake  of 
those  things^  this  man  promises,  came  we  hither.  But  may 
Phtebus,  who  has  sent  us  these  divinations,  come  with  them 
both  as  a  deliverer  and  as  a  healer  to  our  sickness. 

Chorus. 

O  sweetly-speaking  oracle  of  Jove,  mIiv  canst  thou  have 
come  from  Pytho  stored  with  gold,  to  illustrious  Thebes?  I 
am  on  the  rack  in  my  timorous  spirit,  quivering  with  dis- 
may, O  healer,  Delian,  Pfean,  awfully  anxious  about  thee,  as 
to  what  matter  thou  wilt  bring  to  pass  for  me,  either  at  once, 
or  hereafter  in  the  revolving  seasons.  Tell  me,  thou  child  of 
golden  hope,"*  immortal  Voice.  First  I  invoke  thee,  daughter 
of  Jove,  immortal  Minerva,  and  thy  sister,  protectress  of  our 
soil,  Artemis,  who*  sits  enthroned  on  her  glorious  circling 
chair  in  the  market-place,  and  far-darting  Apollo  :  oh,  be  ye 
timely  present  to  me,  three  several  averters  of  destruction,  if 
ever,  in  the  case  of  a  previous  calamity  also  hovering  over  my 
country,  ye  thoroughly  exterminated  the  flame  of  mischief, 
now  too  come  ;  ye  gods,  for  I  suffer  incalculable  miseries  ;  nay, 

^  When  the  request  was  granted,  the  suppliants  took  up  the 
boughs,  which  they  had  previously  laid  ou  the  altar,  aud  de- 
parted,    See  Wunder's  1st  Excursus  ou  v.  3.     B. 

2  For  E^aYytWe-ai,  "promises,"  cf.  Eurip.  Heracl.  531.    Kdfay- 

ytWcTuai  OvfiaKEiv  dcs^pioi/  noice  KdfiavrrJs  v-ep.      B. 

^  Dr.  Spillan  has  rightly  seen  that  Fame  has  nothing  to  do 
with  the  matter.  <^diia  is  the  voice  of  the  oracle  here  invoked. 
The  construction  of  AccvXo^sri'o?  soon  after  (for  which  the  transla- 
tor read  Ac-fAcAo^EJw )  is  well  defended  by  Wunder.     B. 

*  There  is  much  diificulty  about  the  epithet  evK'XEa,  which, 
if  considered  as  the  Epic  accusative  for  ei'K\£a,  violates  the 
meter.  Eespecting  the  epithet  of  Artemis,  BoKkeia  (whence 
Brunck  and  Elmsley  read  Y.vK'Xia),  see  Wunder,  and  Pausauias, 
i.  14.  and  ix.  17.  On  the  many  meanings  assigned  to  K'K}<on'ra, 
see  Wunder.  The  most  plausible  seems  to  be  Dr.  Spillan's: 
"  the  seat  encircled  by  the  forum."     B. 


167-186.]  GEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  19 

my  wliole  people  to  a  man  is  sickening  ;  nor  is  there  among  us 
a  weapon  of  precaution,  wherewith  one  shall  defend  himself; 
for  neither  do  the  productions  of  our  celebrated^  soil  thrive, 
nor  in  childbed  do  our  women  recover  from  their  poignant 
throes;^  but  one  upon  another  mightest  thou  see,  even  as  a 
well-fledged  bird,  more  fiercely  than  uncontrollable  fire,'^ 
speeding  toward  the  shore  of  the  western  god.*  In  the  un- 
counted hosts  of  whom  the  city  is  perishing,  and  the  deadly^ 
generations  of  men  impitied  are  lying  without  a  tear  (to  their 
memory)  on  the  plain  ;  while  among  them  wives  and  gray- 
haired  mothers  withal,  some  from  this,  some  from  that 
quarter,  along  the  rising  altar-slope  as  suppliants,  wail  sadly 
because  of  their  deplorable  afflictions.    And  clear  bursts  forth 

1  Brunck  says  that  one  codex  reads  KXvra,  but  the  plain  of 
Bceotia  is  particularized  by  ancient  writers,  and,  among  others, 
by  Thucydides  in  his  preface,  for  its  fertility.  Tr. — I  should 
prefer  taking  k^vtS;  as  an  epithet  of  the  earth  simply.     B. 

2  di'cxovat,  "hea,r  up  with."  All  the  commentators  seem  to 
coincide  in  accepting  Hesychius's  interpretation  of  im'og^  as 
translated. 

^  In  the  Hecuba  of  Euripides,  the  anarchy  of  a  ship's  crew 
is  termed,  Kpeiarrwv  TTvpo;  in  a  similar  sense  to  that  given  in  this 
translation;  yet  the  second  interpretation  of  the  scholiast, 
"too  fast  for  the  (funeral)  fires  though  unquenched,"' derives 
plausibilitv  from  Thucydides'  account  of  avaiax^'vroi  e^Kat,  ii.  52. 

*  "  Western  god."  Neminem  pvaiterea  novi  qui  sic  Plutonem 
vocaverit,  nopev'  'Axspoirog  aKra  nap'  evaKtov  habet  Pindarus  Pyth. 
ii.  str.  2.  Vide  et  Antig.  806,  7.  Musgrave.  In  the  pero- 
ration of  Lysias'  Oration  against  Andocides  in  this  passage, 
"To  expiate  this  pollution"  (the  mutilation  of  the  Hermse), 
"the  priestesses  and  priests,  turning  toward  the  setting  sun, 
the  dwelling  of  the  infernal  (lods,  devoted  with  curses  the  sacri- 
legious wretch,  and  shook  their  purple  robes,  in  the  manner 
prescribed  by  that  law  which  has  been  transmitted  from  ear- 
liest times."     Mitford,  Hist,  of  Greece,  c.  xxii.  sect.  2. 

^  The  reading  eavaTn<pdpto  was  adopted  by  all  the  translators, 
except  a  recent  one,  who  renders  OavannBopa  simply  "dead." 
I  have  rendered  it  by  "deadly,"  for,  as  Wunder  well  remarks, 
contagion  rendered  them  so,  and  prevented  them  meeting  with 
the  customary  mourning  and  funeral  rites.  Cf.  Seneca,  O^^dip. 
62.     "  Quin  luctu  in  ipso  luctus  exoritur  novus,  Suseque  circa 

funus  exequife  caduut Deest  terra  tumulis,  jam  rogos 

silvse  negaut."    B. 


20  CEDIPUS  TYR ANNUS.  [187-222. 

the  paean  anthem,  and  a  sorrow-breathing  voice  chiming  in. 
Wherefore,  O  golden  daughter  of  Jove,  send  thine  aid,  fair 
of  aspect,  and  make  the  ravening  Mars,  who  now  unarmed 
with  brazen  shield  rushing  on  with  loud  roars,  scorches  me, 
to  turn  his  back  in  homeward  hurrying  flight,  an  outlaw 
from  my  country,  either  to  the  vast  grot^  of  Amphitrite,  or 
to  that  inhospitable  harborage  the  Thracian  breakers  ;  for, 
in  fine,  if  night  have  spared  a  relic,  day  assails  it.  Whicli 
(Mars),  O  thou  that  wieldest  the  sovereignty  of  the  fiery 
lightning,  O  Jove  our  sire,  blast  by  thy  thunderbolt.  Thine 
invincible  arrows  also,  O  lord  of  light,-  from  the  golden 
twisted  horns  of  thy  bow  would  I  gladly  celebrate  as  cham- 
pions sent  forth  to  our  aid,  and  the  fiery  torches  of  Diana, 
wherewith  she  scours  the  Lycian  mountains :  him  of  the 
golden  mitre,  too,  I  call,  surnamed  of  this  our  land  Bacchus 
Evius,  of  aspect  flushed  with  wine,  fellow-rambler  of  the 
MrenadiB,  to  approach,  flaming  Avith  beamy  pine-torch,  upon 
the  god  unhonored  among  gods.^ 

(F.J).  Thou  petitionest ;  but  for  thy  petition,  if  thou  be 
willing  to  hear  and  receive  these  my  words,  and  to  give  thy 
attention  to  the  disease,  thou  mightest  obtain  succor  and 
alleviation  of  thy  miseries  :  which  words  I  shall  speak  as  a 
stranger  to  this  tale  before  us,  a  stranger  to  the  crime  com- 
mitted. For  I  by  myself  could  not  trace  the  matter  far,  un- 
less I  had  some  clew  :  but  now,  seeing  that  I  am  enrolled 

1  ea\ai.tos  I  have  rendered  "^rot,"  which  seems  more  poetical 
than  ''bower,"  "bed,"  or  "chamber,"  when  applied  to  Amphi- 
trite.    B. 

2  The  old  word  \vicri  or  \vK6g  (whence,  probably,  the  Latin 
lux),  forms  An/fo^rff  and  \vKapng.  The  latter  word  occurring 
in  Apollouius  Ehodius,  Argon,  i.  198,  first  suggested  to  the 
translator  of  this  play  an  idea  which  he  is  happy  to  find  sanc- 
tioned by  Maltby's  authority  (v.  \vKEiog),  that  even  the  Sopho- 
clean  ^vkoktui^o;  is  one,  among  many  other  fanciful  substitutes, 
for  the  true  origin  of  this  epithet.  Tr. — So  also  Miiller,  Dor. 
ii.  6,  ^  8  ;  but  I  should  prefer  retaining  "Lycian  King."  Cf. 
^sch!  Sept.  c.  Th.  145.     B. 

3  (XTToriixos,  Pindar,  Pyth.  ii.  80: 

rdi'op  i-:rEp(f)ia\ov, 

Moi'G,  Koi  fiovov,  ovr   tv  av- 

Spdai  yepatjipopov  ovt''  iv  Oecov  I'opoTs, 


223-243.]  CEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  21 

among  our  citizens^  a  citizen  of  latest  date,  to  all  you 
Cadma?ans  I  make  proclamation  thus  :^  Whatsoever  man  of 
you  chances  to  know  of  Laius  son  of  Labdacus,  by  what  man 
he  fell,  him  I  command  to  make  full  confession  to  me. 
And  whether  he  fears,  as  having  to  divulge  from  conceal- 
ment the  impeachment  himself  against  himself ;  let  him, 
seeing  he  shall  suffer  nothing  else  unwelcome,  but  shall  quit 
the  country  unharmed  ;  or  whether  on  the  other  hand,  any 
one  have  known  another^  from  another  land  as  such,  let  him 
not  be  silent  as  to  the  assassin,  for  his  reward  I  will  pay,  and 
gratitude  shall  accrue  to  him  besides.  But  if,  on  the  con- 
trary, ye  shall  be  dumb,  and  any  one  apprehensive  either 
on  his  friend's  account,  or  even  on  his  own,  shall  reject  my 
words,  ye  must  needs  hear  from  me  what  I  shall  do  hereaf- 
ter. I  prohibit  any  one  of  this  land,  of  which  I  wield  the 
powers  and  royalties,  from  either  receiving  or  accosting, 
from  making  a  communicant  with  himself  or  either  vows  or 
sacrifices  to  the  gods,  and  from  apportioning  the  lavers  of 
holy  water  to  this  man,  whoever  he  is  ;  but^  I  command  that 
all  thrust  him  from  their  homes,  as  this  man  being  the  de- 

^  Elmsley  and  Wunder  read  avrdg  for  daTos,  which  seems 
preferable.     B. 

2  vTit^eXibv  TovTTiK'XriiJia,  "crimen,  confitendo  diluens."  Elms. 
"Conditum  promens."  Hermann;  who  quotes  the  Electra, 
1411,  where  the  scholiast's  interpretation  is  plainer  than  his 
own;  and  Eurip.  Hipp.  629  (ed.  Monk),  where  Monk  says, 
"hunc  versum  forsau  omitti  potuisse  censuit  Valkenserius ;" 
and  where  the  idea  of  draining  silently  off  seems  as  apposite  as 
conditum  promens,  when  applied  to  oA/3o^  iMiiaroiv.  In  the  4th 
book  of  Thucydides,  c.  83,  the  better  authorities  have  vire^eXelv, 
for  vTre^eXeeTp  ra  Seivd,  which  is  most  aptly  rendered  "to  remove 
out  of  the  way."  The  reader  must  choose  between  the  note 
and  the  text,  which  follows  Hermann.  Tr. — Wunder's  inter- 
pretation, derived  from  Matthise,  is  as  follows:  "et  si  metuit 
{sc.  vixcjp  Tts  navra  ar]jxaiveiv  eixoi)  crimen  csedis,  cujus  ipse  reus 
sit,  surripiat,  sive  subterfugiat,  et  in  terram  peregrinam  abeat ; 
nullum  euim  alia  patietur  malum."  Elmsley's  view  seems 
simplest.     B. 

^  Wunder  approves  of  the  emendation  of  Nevius,  x^pos  for 
XOovdg.  But  Vauvilliers  more  neatly  proposes  aardv  ])  'idWrjs 
XOovos.     B. 

*  K£X£i)w  must  be  taken  from  the  preceding  d-rravSo}.    B. 


22  CEDIPUS  TYR ANNUS.  [244-281. 

filement  upon  us,  as  the  Pythian  oracle  of  the  divinity  has 
just  now  revealed  to  me.  Such  an'  ally  then  am  I  both  to 
the  deity  and  the  mortal  who  is  dead.  But  I  imprecate  on 
the  perpetrator,  whether  he  have  escaped  detection  being 
some  single  person,  or  with  more,  that,  evil-doer  as  he  is, 
he  may  in  evils  drag  out  an  unhappy  existence.  But  should 
he  be  an  inmate  in  these  my  halls  with  my  knowledge,  I 
pray  that  I  may  suffer  the  very  penalties  which  I  have 
just  now  invoked  on  these.  But  on  you  I  strictly  impose 
the  performance  of  all  this,  both  on  my  own  behalf,  and  of 
the  god,  and  of  this  our  land,  thus  without  its  fruits  and 
without^  the  gods  brought  to  decay.  For  not  even  if  the 
matter  had  not  been  taken  up  by  the  god,  ought  you  in  rea- 
son to  leave  it  thus  unatoned,  when  the  best  of  men,  and 
your  monarch,  had  perished,  but  thoroughly  to  sift  it :  but 
now,  since  it  is  I  who  possess  the  authority  which  he  held 
before,  who  possess  too  his  bed,  and  the  same  wife  to  raise 
up  seed  ;  and  since  a  common  offspring  to  his  in  common 
would  have  been  of  her  born,  had  not  issue  unhappily  failed 
him,  whereas  now  fate  has  fallen  violently  on  his  head  ;  for 
these  causes  I  will  thus  do  battle  for  him,  even  as  it  were 
mine  own  father ;  and  will  resort  to  all  means  in  seeking  to 
take  the  doer  of  his  murder  to  the  son  of  Labdacus,  and  of 
Polydorus,  and  of  earlier  Cadmus,  and  of  the  ancient  Agenor: 
and  for  those  who  fail  to  perform  these  orders,  I  pray  the 
gods  to  allow  to  spring  neither  seed-crop  to  them  from  their 
land,  no,  nor  children  from  their  wives  ;  but  that  they  may 
be  wasted  away  by  their  present  doom,  and  by  one  yet  more 
hateful  than  this.  But  to  you  the  other  Cadm^eans,  unto  as 
many  as  these  designs  are  acceptable,  may  both  the  friendly 
power,  Justice,  and  all  the  gods'  weal,  be  present  evermore. 

Ch.  Even  as  thou  hast  involved  me  in  a  curse,  thus,  O 
king,  will  I  speak  :  for  neither  was  I  the  slayer,  nor  have  I 
power  to  disclose  that  slayer.  But  this  same  question  it  was 
the  part  of  Phcebus  who  gave  the  message  to  have  it  declared, 
namely,  who  on  earth  has  done  the  deed. 

OEd!  Thou  hast  rightly  spoken.  But  to  compel  the  gods 
to  that^  which  they  shall  not  be  pleased  to  do,  coidd  no  man 
have  power. 

1  aeecjT,  "  neglected  by  the  gods."  So  El.  1181,  and  below^ 
661,  £Trel  adeoT  aapiXoS'.  .  .  .'oXoifxav.      B. 


282-308.]  CEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  23 

Ch.  I  would  fain  suggest  the  second  step  after  this  which 
occurs  to  me. 

CEt>.  Nay,  even  if  there  be  a  third,  see  thou  omit  not  to 
give  it  utterance. 

Ch.  I  know  that  king^  Tiresias  most  especially  has  insight 
into  the  same  things  with  king  Apollo,  from  whom  one  in- 
quiring of  these  matters,  O  king,  might  derive  the  clearest 
knowledge  of  them. 

CEd.  But  not  even  this  have  I  managed  as  a  slothful  work, 
for  I  have  dispatched,  at  Creon's  word,  two  to  fetch  him  ; 
and  long  since  he  moves  my  wonder  by  his  non-attendance. 

Ch.  Well,  certainly  the  other  stories  are  absurd,  and 
stale. 

Qi^D.  To  what  purpose  these  same  ?  for  I  scrutinize  every 
report. 

Ch.  He  was  said  to  have  fallen  by  some  wayfarers. 

(Ed.  I,  too,  have  heard  so  ;  but  the  witness  of  this  no  one 
knows. 

Ch.  But  surely,  if  he  possess  one  particle  of  fear,  at  least 
he  will  not  endure  hearing  such  curses  as  these  of  thine. 

CEd.  Him  wlio  can  have  no  horror  of  the  deed,  neither 
will  a  word  overawe. 

Ch.  Yet  is  there  one  who  shall  expose  him,  for  those 
yonder  are  slow  conducting  hither  the  heavenly  seer  ;  in 
whom  alone  of  men  is  the  truth  innate. 

OEd.  Tiresias,  thou  who  dost  contemplate  all  things,  both 
those  which  may  be  taught,  and  those  which  are  unspeak- 
able, and  those  which  are  of  heaven,  and  those  that  tread 
our  earth  ;  vmder  what  a  disease  our  city  labors,  even  though 
thou  seest  not,  thou  must  still  be  sensible  :  wherein  we  dis- 
cover thee,  O  king,  our  only  protector  and  deliverer.  For 
Phoebus,  should  thou  not  be  informed  of  it  by  the  messen- 
gers, has  sent  word  in  return  to  us  who  sent  to  ask  that  re- 
lease from  this  our  present  sickly  state  alone  could  come,  if, 
having  rightly  discovered,  we  should  put  to  death  those  who 

1  The  expression  ava^  refers  here  to  the  functions  of  the 
king,  priest,  and  prophet,  which  were  united  from  the  earliest 
times,  and  which  neither  the  Athenians  nor  Eomans,  when 
they  abolished  the  regal  power,  dared  nominally  to  separate, 
but  still  retained  their  titular  ^aaiXevr  and  rex. 


24  OEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  [309-333. 

killed  Laius,  or  send  them  into  banishment  from  the  land. 
Do  thou,  therefore,  on  thv  part,  grudging  us  neither  response 
from  augury,  nor  if  thou  hast  other  way  of  divination  what- 
ever, redeem  thyself  and  the  state,  redeem  me,  redeem  the 
whole  pollution  of  the  dead.^  For  in  thy  hands  we  are  ;  but 
for  a  man  to  do  benefit  from  such  means  as  he  may  have  and 
can  use,  is  of  labors  the  most  glorious. 

TiRESiAS.  Woe,  woe,  how  dreadful  to  be  wise,  where  it 
can  not  pay  its  profits  to  the  wise.  Alas  !  for  though  I  knew 
this  Avell,  I  altogether  forgot  it,  else  had  I  not  come  hither. 

Q^D.  Xav,  what  is  this?  how  dispirited  art  thou  come  to 
us!  \ 

TiR.  Dismiss  me  to  my  home,  for  most  easily  Avilt  thou 
endure  thy  doom  and  I  mine,  if  thou  wilt  be  prevailed  on 
by  me. 

CEd.  Thou  hast  said  what  is  neither  lawful  nor  friendly  to 
this  thy  country  which  nursed  thee,  in  depriving  her  of  this 
divulgement. 

Tie,,  Why,  I  observe  that  neither  does  thy  speech  pro- 
ceed from  thee  seasonably  ;  I  do  it,  therefore,  that  I  may  not 
suffer  the  same  evil  on  my  part. 

Ch.  Do  not,  in  the  name  of  the  gods,  if  aware  of  this,  be 
averse  [to  speak],  since  we  all  here,  prostrate  as  suppliants, 
kneel  to  thee. 

TiR.  Because  ye  are  all  infatuated  :  but  I ,^  no,  never; 

be  it  that  I  may  not,  by  telling  my  own,  unfold  thy  miseries. 

CEt>.  What  sayest  thou  ?  though  knowing  it,  Avilt  thou  not 
give  it  utterance,  but  thinkest  thou  to  betray  us,  and  destroy 
the  state. 

TiR.  I  will  grieve  neither  myself  nor  thee.  *  Wherefore 
dost  thou  vainly  probe  these  matters  ?  for  never  shalt  thou 
learn  them  from  me. 

1  That  is.  "  all  that  the  death  of  Laius  has  polluted." 

2  "  But  I ."     This  is  translated  after  the  punctuation  of 

Hermann's  edition.  In  his  addenda,  however,  Ehusley  con- 
siders Erf  urdt  to  have  correctly  interpreted  the  passage,  the 
second  //»?  to  redound,  and  the  order  to  be,  £yw  6c  oi  nii-ors  eKipiivio 

(id  est,    ovTTOrE    CKipavio)    to.  aa   koko.,  io~    au   cUttm  ra  e^a   fxavTCvuara. 

"Never  imagine  that  I  will  bring  to  light  thy  misfortuues,  in 
order  that  I  may  utter  my  prophecies."  Te. — Dindorf  s  text 
seems  unintelligible.    B. 


334-356.]  CEDIPUS  TYR ANNUS.  25 

Q^D.  "What,  worst  of  villains  !  for  thou  on  thy  part  wouldst 
enrage  the  temper  even  of  a  stone  ;  wilt  thou  never  declare 
it  at  all,  and  show  thyself  unsoftened  and  unsatisfying  ? 

TiR.  Thou  hast  complained  of  my  ill  humor,  but  thine 
own  that  dwells  with  thee  hast  thou  not  discerned  ;^  yet 
blamest  thou  me. 

GLd.  I  do  ;  for  who  would  not  be  incensed  at  hearing  such 
words  as  those,  in  which  thou  now  settest  at  naught  this  city  ? 

Tie,.  Why,  they  will  come  to  pass,  even  though  I  suppress 
them  in  silence. 

(Ed.  Oughtest  not  thou,  then,  to  inform  me  of  at  least 
that  which  will  come  to  pass? 

Tie..  I  can  tell  thee  no  further  ;  whereupon,  if  thou  wilt, 
be  exasperate  with  whatever  rage  is  most  ferocious. 

(Ed.  Ay,  on  my  soul,  and  I  will  at  least  pass  over  noth- 
ing, so  enraged  am  I,  of  what  I  am  apprised  of.  For,  know, 
thou  art  suspected  by  me  both  to  have  helped  engender  the 
deed,  and  to  have  done  it,  in  all  but  killing  him  with  thine 
hands  ;  nay,  hadst  thou  possessed  sight,  even  this  deed  its 
very  self  had  I  asserted  to  be  thine  alone. 

Tie.  Is  it  even  so? 1  charge  thee  to  abide  by  the  proc- 
lamation, even  that  which  thou  hast  promulged,  and  from 
this  day  forth  to  accost  neither  these  present,  nor  me  ;  for 
that  thou  art  the  unhallowed  defiler  of  this  land. 

OEd.  Hast  thou  thus  shamelessly  given  vent  to  these  words 
of  thine,  and  canst  thou  possibly  expect  that  thou  shalt  ac- 
quit thyself  of  this? 

TiR.   I  stand  acquitted,  for  I  cherish  truth  in  its  strength. 

1  Hermann  considers  that  Eustatliius  is  right  in  attributing 
to  these  words  an  allusion  to  Jocasta,  and  says,  that  the  expres- 
sion ojiou  vatovo-ai/  is  otherwise  useless ;  which,  however,  it  would 
not  be,  since  it  contains  the  very  reason  which  gives  Tiresias's 
remonstrance  so  much  force.  The  ambiguity,  if  any  ought  to 
be,  is  well  preserved  in  these  lines  ; 

"Thou  hast  reproved  my  warmth,  yet  little  know'st 
What  dwells  in  thine  own  bosom,  though  on  me 
Thou  heap'st  reproach." 

Dale's  Trans,  vol.  i.  32.     Tr. 
See  V.  414,  and  cf.  Nonnus  Dionys.  xxv.  20. — ni^  ^omw  Xlarpo<b6. 

vov  Troaiv  via  napswa^ovra  TEKOvar].      Statius  Theb.  1,  68;    Si   dulcea 

furias,  et  lameutabile  matris  Counubium  gavisus  ini.     B. 
2 


26  (EDIPUS  TYRAXNUS.  [357-382. 

CEd.  At  whose  hand  schooled  ?  for  surely  not  from  thy 
art. 

Tin.  At  thine ;  for  thou  hast  provoked  me  reluctant  to 
speak. 

CEd.  What  manner  of  speech  ?  speak  again,  that  I  may 
the  rather  apprehend. 

TiR.  Understood' st  thou  not  before,  or  temptest  thou  my, 
words  ? 

Q^D.  No,  not  at  least  to  have  termed  it  intelligible  ;  but 
say  again. 

Tm.  I  say  thou  art  the  murderer  of  the  man  whose  mur- 
derer thou  seekest. 

CEd.  But  in  no  wise  with  impunity  shalt  thou  twice  at 
least  utter  taunts. 

TiR.  Shall  I  tell  thee,  then,  one  other  thing  also,  that 
thou  mayest  be  the  more  angered  ? 

(Ed.  As  much  at  least  as  thou  inclinest,  since  it  Avill  be 
said  in  vain. 

TiR.  I  affirm  thee  to  be  unconsciously  holding  the  most 
shameful  intercourse  with  thy  dearest  friends,  and  not  to  see 
in  what  state  of  evil  thou  art. 

(Ed.  And  dost  think  thou  shalt  always  say  these  things 
even  exultingly  ? 

TiR.  Yes,  if  at  least  there  be  any  might  in  truth. 

(Ed.  Kay,  there  is,  save  to  thee  ;  but  to  thee  there  is  not 
this,  since  thou  art  blind  both  in  thine  ears  and  thy  mind 
and  thine  eyes. 

TiR.  But  thou  at  any  rate  art  wretched  in  reproaching 
me  with  this,  wherewith  is  there  not  one  of  these  present 
who  will  not  speedily  reproach  thee. 

(Ed.  Thou  art  fostered  by  night  alone,  so  that  thou  couldst 
never  do  either  me  or  any  other,  whoever  he  be,  that  looks 
on  the  light,  a  mischief. 

TiR.  For  it  is  not  fated  thou  shouldst  fall,  at  least  by  me, 
since  Apollo  is  sufficient,  whose  care  it  is  to  accomplish  all 
this. 

(Ed.  Are  these  the  inventions  of  Creon,  or  thine  own? 

TiR.  Kay,  Creon  is  no  bane  to  thee,  but  thyself  to  thyself. 

(Ed.  O  wealth  and  sovereignty,  and  art  surpassing  art  in 
this  life  of  constant  emulation,  how  great  is  the  jealousy 
stored  up  among  you  I   if  at  least  for  the  sake  of  this  my 


383-401  •]  CEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  27 

power,  which  the  city  reposed  in  my  hands,  a  free  gift  and 
not  solicited.  Creon,  the  loyal,  my  former  friend,  secretly 
supplanting  me  is  longing  to  eject  me  from  it,  having  sub- 
orned a  sorcerer  such  as  this,  a  vaniper-up  of  plots,  a  Avily 
mountebank,  a  wretch  that  hath  eyes  only  for  his  gains,  but 
as  to  his  art  was  born  blind.  For  if  not,  come  tell  me, 
wherein  thou  art  a  true  seer?  How  didst  thou  not,  when 
the  monster  of  wild  song^  was  here,  pronounce  some  spell 
of  deliverance  to  these  our  citizens?  And  yet  her  riddle  at 
least  was  not  for  a  chance-comer  to  expound,  but  required 
divination,  which  thou  plainly  exposedst  thyself  as  not  pos- 
sessing, either  from  birds  or  known  from  any  one  of  the  gods  ; 
but  I,  when  I  was  come,  the  nothing-knowing  ffidipus,  put 
her  down,  having  mastered  it  by  judgment,  and  not  having 
learned  it  from  birds  :  I,  whom  forsooth  thou  must  try  to 
depose,  expecting  that  thou  shalt  stand  next  in  place  near 
the  Cretonean  throne.'^  To  thy  cost  methinks  both  thou  and 
he  that  contrived  all  this  will  go  exorcising  i^ollutions  :  nay, 

1  17  pa'^Mcog  KVMv,]  A  puzzling  title  to  translate;  but  the 
Sphinx  was  all  a  puzzle,  and  would  have  made  a  great  figure 
in  these  days  of  Egyptian  statues  and  hieroglyphics,  particu- 
larly as  her  a(;ted  charades  were  bettor  than  her  spoken,  at 
least  they  nonplussed  the  poor  Thebans  more,  being  of  that 
ancient  kind  which  he  who  receives  aright  "had  need  from 
head  to  foot  well  understand."  For  the  translation,  if  any  one 
have  so  much  of  Euripides,  or  rather  Diogenes,  in  him  as  to 
prefer  "  enigmatical  bitch,"  he  may  find  in  the  poem  of  Chris- 
tabelle  one  of  the  same  breed,  and  most  "enigmatical,"  vv.  2 
et  seq.  Tr. — kvcov  is  applied  to  the  Sphinx,  as  to  the  hydra  by 
Eurip.  Here.  F.  1277,  and  to  the  Harpies  in  Apollou.  13,  289. 
So  Brunck.  See  also  ^sch.  Prom.  803.  Soph.  Electr.  1388.  It 
was  probably  applied  to  the  Sphinx  from  her  rapacity  and  rob- 
beries. See  Pausan.  ix.  26.  Hygiu.  Fab.  Ixvii.  or  from  her 
participating  in  the  form  of  a  dog.  Palaephat  de  incred.  hist. 
^7.     B. 

2  On  the  expression  rw  AapSaKsico  iraiSi  (v.  267),  Brunck  has  a 
long  note  from  Eustathius,  producing  two  examples  from  Homer 
of  these  adjectives  in  eiog,  in  both  of  which  there  seem  a  certain 
solemnity  and  state  intended  to  be  expressed,  which  indeed  are 
more  palpable  in  these  instances  from  Sophocles :  rw  Aa/iJu^ou 
rs  rraiSi  would  not  have  the  same  force. 


28  CEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  [402-426. 

but  that  thou  seemest  an  old  man,  to  thv  cost  hadst  tliou 
known^  what  manner  of  things  they  be  thou  purposest. 

Ch.  As  we  conjecture,  both  this  man's  Avords  and  thine,  O 
CEdipus,  appear  to  have  been  uttered  in  passion.  But  there 
is  want  not  of  such  words  as  these,  but  to  consider,  but  how 
we  shall  best  expedite  the  oracles  of  the  god. 

Tr.  Even  though  thou  art  a  king,  the  right  of  an  equal 
reply  at  any  rate  must  be  equally  granted  to  both,  for  of  this 
I  too  am  master.  For  in  no  wise  do  I  hold  life  as  servant  to 
thee,  but  to  Loxias,  so.  that  I  shall  not  by  and  by  be  entered 
under  Creon  as  patron.  But  I  tell  thee,  inasmuch  as  thou 
hast  taunted  me  with  being  blind  also  :  thou  actually  hast  thy 
sight,  and  seest  not  in  what  evil  thou  art,  nor  where  thou  art 
dwelling,  nor  with  whom  thou  art  consorting.  Knowest  thou 
now  from  whom  thou  art?  Thou  art  even  unaware  that  thou 
art  the  enemy  of  thine  own  buried  kindred,  and  of  those  on 
earth  above.  And  thee  with  fearful  steps  shall  a  curse  both^ 
from  thy  mother  and  thy  father,  one  day,  with  double  stroke 
chase  from  this  land,  thee  seeing  now  indeed  rightly,  but 
then  darkness.  But  with  thine  outcry  what  manner  of 
haven,  what  Cithajron,  shall  not  speedily  be  in  unison,  when 
thou  shalt  have  become  sensible  of  the  marriage  into  which, 
though  void  of  harborage,  thou  hast  in  thine  halls  steered 
thy  course,  happening  on  a  fair  voyage  time?  But  thou 
dost  not  feel  conscious  of  a  multitude  of  other  evils,  which^ 
shall  level  thee  with  thy  real  self  and  with  thy  children. 
Now  then  revile  both  Creon  and  my  words,  for  there  lives 

1  Brunek  renders  ''damnotuo  cognosceres,  quam  male  sen- 
tias."  This  is  not  satisfactory,  the  force  of  the  particle  Trep 
being  entirely  lost,  unless  it  be  thought,  implied  by  "sentias." 
Since  OEdipus  appears  confident  of  the  nature  of  Tiresias'  in- 
tentions, may  we  translate  "thou  hadst  known  as  the  sufferer 
just  what  thou  knowest  as  the  designer,"  and  consider  it  a 
threat  of  banishment;  or  does  ola  -rzp  mean  qualia  cunque? 
Elmsley  prints  them  together,  oraTrep;  Hermann,  separately. 

2  Jetj/OTroi'j. 

**  And  long  upon  my  troubled  ear 
Eang  his  dark  courser's  hoofs  of  feai*." — Giaouk. 
^  There  is  probably  a  play  upoii  the  word  I'o-i-?,  referring  to 
CEdipus  discovering  both  what  he  himself  was,  and  also  how 
he  stood  related  to  his  children.     See  Wunder.     B. 


427-449-]  CEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  29 

not  the  mortal  who  shall  ever  wear  himself  away  more  dire- 
fully  than  thou. 

(Ed.  And  is  all  this  then  bearable  to  hear  from  this  thing  i 
Wilt  not  away  to  thy  death  ?  Wilt  not  instantly  ?  Wilt 
thon  not  turn  thy  back  upon  these  halls,  and  get  thee  away 
again  in  haste? 

TiR.  Nay,  I  for  my  part  had  not  come,  hadst  thou  not 
bidden  me  hither. 

CEd.  I  did,  because  I  was  by  no  means  aware  that  thou 
wouldst  utter  folly,  else  had  I  taken  my  time  at  least  in 
fetching  thee  to  my  dwelling. 

TiR.  Such  as  we  are,  we  are,  to  thy  thinking,  fools  ;  but 
to  the  parents  who  begat  thee,  wise. 

Q^D.  What  parents  ?  tarry  :  nay,  who  of  mankind  is  my 
parent  ? 

TiR.  This  day  shall  give  thee  thy  birth  and  thy  destruc- 
tion. 

(Ed.  How  over-mysterious  and  obscure  dost  thou  speak 
every  thing  ! 

TiR.  Art  not  thou  then  by  nature  the  aptest  at  discover- 
ing these  ? 

(Ed.  Revile  me,  and  welcome,  in  those  things  in  which 
thou  wilt  find  me  great. 

TiR.  Yet  is  it  nevertheless  this  very  success  which  has 
beeu  thy  ruin.^ 

(Ed.  Nay,  but  if  I  have  rescued  this  our  city,  I  care  not. 

TiR.  Now  then  will  I  depart,  and  do  thou,  boy,  conduct 
me. 

(Ed.  Well,  let  him  conduct  thee,  since  while  here  thou 
troublest  and  hinderest  us,  and,  wert  thou  gone,  thou  couldst 
not  annoy  us  more. 

TiR.  I  will  be  gone  when  I  have  spoken  that  for  which  I 
came,  not  from  awe  of  thy  presence.^  For  there  is  no  mean 
whereby  thou  shalt  destroy  me.     But  I  tell  thee  :  this  very 

^  Compare  ''  Fatal  Marriage,"  Act  v.  so.  4 : 

"  Why,  that  which  damns  most  men  has  ruined  me  ; 
The  making  of  my  fortune."     B. 
2  Hermann  understands  by  -rrpoawrov  audacity;   but  as  it  is 
used  with   T-oA/ii??  in  a  subsequent  passage,   the  translator  has 
followed  Brunck. 


30  CEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  [450-486. 

man,  whom  all  this  while  thou  art  searching  out  with  men- 
aces and  proclamations  touching  Lai'us'  murder,  this  man 
is  here,  a  foreign  settler  here  bv  report,  but  by  and  by  shall 
he  be  manifested  a  Theban  born,  nor  will  he  be  pleased  with 
his  fortune.  For  blind  instead  of  seeing,  and  a  beggar  in- 
stead of  rich,  over  a  strange  land  shall  he  be  a  wayfarer, 
essaying  his  way  with  a  staff ;  but  with  his  own  children 
shall  he  be  detected  abiding,  at  once  their  brother  and  their 
sire,  and  of  the  Avoman  of  whom  he  was  born  both  son  and 
husband,  and  of  his  father  both  co-rival  and  assassin.  And 
these  things,  going  in-doors,  reason  over  with  thyself ;  and 
if  thou  detect  me  to  have  falsified,  say  then  that  I  have  no 
skill  in  divination. 

Chorus.  Who  is  he  whom  the  prophetic  Delphic  rock 
denounced  as  having  wrought  with  murderous  hands  the 
most  nefarious  of  most  nefarious  deeds?  Time  were  it  for 
him  to  employ  in  flight  a  foot  more  vigorous  than  coursers 
swift  as  the  storm ;  for  the  offspring  of  Jove  all  armed  with 
fire  and  lightnings  is  springing  upon  him,  and  together  are 
following  the  dread  inevitable  fates.  For  a  voice  hath  glanced 
forth,  but  now  appearing  from  the  snowy  Parnassus,  that  every 
one  must  track  the  undiscovered  criminal.  For  under  some 
wild  wood  is  he  straying,  among  caverns  and  crags,  like  a 
bull,^  with  miserable  foot  a  miserable  widower  :  shunning 
the  prophecies  sprung  from  earth's  middle:  but  they  flit 
around  him,  ever  living.  Fearfully,  however,  fearfully  does 
the  sage  augur  trouble  me,  neither  assenting  nor  denying  ;^ 
nay  I  am  at  a  loss  Avhat  to  say.  But  I  flutter  on  hopes,  see- 
ing neither  in  prospect  nor  in  retrospect ;  for  what  feud  lay 

1  "Like  a  bull."  See  Virgil's  Georgic,  iii.  219-236.  The 
expressions  cnroioacpiscop,  TTspiTTorarai,  etc,  Seem  allusions  to  the 
oestrum.  And  the  epithet  xip^v^ov,  wliich  might  apply  so  well 
to  the  bull,  derives  a  tremendous  force  from  the  coutrast  of  the 
murderer's  actual  condition. 

'■^  So  above,  89.      ovrs  yap  epaav;,    Ovr  ovv   Trpoceiaas   eipl  tm  ys  vvv 

XoyiL).  But  ovr£  Soxovvr  ovr'  dTro<pd(rKoi'0'  are  generally  taken,  with 
Seiva,  as  nominatives  plural,  and  explained,  as  by  the  Scholiast: 
ovre  ~tc-ra  ovre  aTicra.  Yet,  as  the  prophet  Imd  affirmed  CEdipns 
to  be  the  murderer,  the  Chorus  could  hardly  say  that  his  words 
neither  asserted  nor  denied,  and  I  therefore  think  the  present 
translation  the  best.    B. 


487-533-]  CEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  31 

between  either  the  Labdacidfe  or  the  son  of  Polybus,  I  for 
my  part  never  learned  neither  heretofore,  nor  in  the  present 
case  have  I  yet  from  any  one^  with  whose  test  I,  as  an  aven- 
ger of  the  Labdacidae  in  respect  to  that  mysterious  murder, 
should  go  against  the  popular  fame  of  OEdipus,  Yet  Jupi- 
ter and  Apollo  however  are  wise,  and  ken  the  affairs  of  mor- 
tals ;  but  among  men,  that  a  soothsayer  is  of  more  account 
than  I,  is  no  certain  conclusion  ;  yet  a  man  might  surpass 
wisdom  by  wisdom  :'^  but  never  would  I  for  my  part,  until  I 
saw  [the  seer's]  words  prove  true,  agree  with  those  who 
condemn  him.  The  winged  maid  came  once  publicly,  and 
he  was  then  upon  trial  seen  to  be  sage,  and  the  city's  friend  ; 
wherefore  in  my  mind  he  shall  never  be  cast  as  guilty  of  a 
crime. 

Creon.  Men  and  citizens,  having  learned  that  Qildipus  the 
king  accuses  me  in  grievous  terms,  I  come  before  you  ill 
brooking  it.  For  if  in  these  the  distresses  of  the  present 
time  he  considers  himself  to  have  suffered  aught  at  my 
hands,  at  least  by  word  or  deed  tending  to  his  injury,  truly 
I  have  no  hankering  after  a  long-enduring  life  while  I  bear 
this  report.  For  the  penalty  of  this  calumny  upon  me  tends 
to  no  simple  evil,  but  to  one  of  the  first  magnitude,  if  I  am 
henceforth  to  be  called  a  traitor  in  the  city,  a  traitor  before 
thee  and  my  friends. 

Ch.  Yet  surely  this  said  reproach  came,  as  it  might  be, 
forced  out  by  rage,  rather  than  by  judgment  of  the  mind. 

Cr.  But  by  what  did  it  appear  that,  persuaded  by  my 
counsels,  the  prophet  speaks  his  words  falsely  ? 

Ch.  This  was  indeed  averred,  but  I  know  not  with  what 
meaning. 

(Jr.  But  was  this  same  accusation  alleged  against  me  Avith 
eyes  and  mind  set  aright  ? 

Ch.  I  know  not,  for  I  have  no  eyes  for  what  my  masters 
do.  But  the  man  himself  is  now  sallying  forth  from  the 
palace. 

QCdipus.  Ho,  fellow  !  how  camest  thou  hither  ?  hast  thou 
such  a  front  of  impudence  that  thou  art  come  to  my  very 

1  Here  there  is  a  lacuna,  which  Brunck  supplies  by  xprna^ic' 

VOg.       B. 

'^  Cf.  v.  380 — Kai  TEXvr]  Tcxvrjg  Y-Trepfipovaa.     B. 


32  CEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  [534-564. 

roof  being  palpably  the  assassin  of  this  man,  and  the  con- 
fessed robber  of  my  royalty?  Pray  tell  me,  in  heaven's 
name,  what  cowardice  or  idiocy  having  remarked  in  me  hast 
thou  plotted  to  do  this?  Was  it  that  I  should  not  detect 
this  work  of  thine,  creeping  on  me  by  stealth,  and  when  I 
had  learned  should  not  protect  myself  against  it  ?  AVhy,  is 
not  this  thine  enterprise  a  silly  one,  Avithout  a  multitude  of 
friends  to  be  hunting  after  empire,  which  by  numbers  and 
by  wealth  is  to  be  achieved  ? 

Cr.^  Knowest  thou  what  to  do?  In  answer  to  what  has 
been  said,  listen  to  an  equal  statement,  and  then  be  thyself 
the  arbiter  when  informed. 

CEd.  Thou  art  shrewd  at  speaking,  but  I  am  dull  at  learn- 
ing of  thee  ;  for  I  have  found  thee  ill  disposed  and  irksome 
to  me. 

Cr.  This  very  point  now  first  hear  from  me  as  I  shall 
state  it. 

QEd.  This  very  point  now  see  thou  tell  me  not,  how  thou 
art  not  a  villain. 

Cr.  Truly,  if  thou  thinkest  wilfulness  to  be  any  gain 
when  separate  from  understanding,  thou  thinkest  not  wisely. 

(Kt).  Truly,  if  thou  thinkest  that  ill-treatment  a  kinsman 
thou  shalt  not  undergo  the  penalty,  thou  thinkest  not 
wisely. 

Cr.  I  agree  with  thee  that  this  is  spoken  with  justice  :  but 
inform  me  of  the  grievance,  what  it  may  be  that  thou  pro- 
fessest  to  have  suffered. 

(Ed.  Didst  thou  persuade  or  not  persuade  me,  that  it  be- 
hooved me  to  send  some  one  for  the  holy  man  of  prophecy  ? 

Cr.  Ay,  and  am  even  yet  constant  to  my  counsel. 

CEd.  Well,  how  long  time  may  it  be  now,  then,  since 
Laius — 

Cr.  Did  what  manner  of  deed  ?  for  I  comprehend  not. 

CEt).  ^Mysteriously  disappeared  by  a  fatal  assault. 

Cr.  Long  and  ancient  periods  might  be  reckoned  up. 

(Et>.  Was,  then,  this  same  diviner  at  that  time  in  the 
practice  of  his  calling  ? 

Cr.  At  least  he  was  as  sage  and  as  much  respected. 

CEd.   Well,  made  he  any  mention  of  me  then  at  that  time? 

1  See  Keen  on  Gregorius  de  Dial.  Attic.  ^  2.     B. 


565-5S2.]  CEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  23 

Cr.  Certainly  not,  never,  at  least,  where  I  was  a  bystander. 

(Ed.  But  held  ye  no  inquisition  for  the  deceased  ? 

Cr.  We  commissioned  one  ;  nay,  how  should  we  not  ?  and 
heard  nothing, 

OEd.  How  was  it,  then,  that  at  that  time  this  sage  revealed 
not  these  things  ? 

Cr.  I  know  not ;  for  in  matters  on  which  I  have  no  un- 
derstanding I  prefer  being  silent. 

(F^D.  Yet  this  much  at  least  thou  knowest,  and  Avould  state 
if  honest  of  purpose. 

Cr.  Of  what  sort  is  this  thing?  for  if  I  do  know  it,  I  will 
not  deny  it. 

(Ed.  It  is,  that  unless  he  has  conspired  with  thee,^  he 
never  could  have  said  that  the  destruction  of  Laius  was  my 
doing. 

Cr.  Whether  he  says  so,  thou  thyself  knowest ;  but  I 
claim  the  right  of  ascertaining  from  thee  just  the  same  things 
which  thou  hast  now  from  nie  also. 

(Et>.  Ascertain  them  ;  for  certainly  I  shall  not  be  detected 
a  murderer. 

Cr.  What  sayest  thou,  then?  art  thou  married  to  my  own 
sister? 

OEd.  There  is  no  denial  of  that  thou  questionest. 

Cr.'^  And  hast  thou  the  same  sovereignty  with  her, 
swaying  in  equal  share  of  territory? 

CEd.  W^hatever  be  her  pleasure,  she  obtains  every  thing 
from  me. 

Cr.  Am  not  I  then  the  third  on  a  par  with  you  too  ? 

(Kb.  Why,  'tis  even  in  this  in  fact  thou  showest  thee  a 
false  friend. 

1  "09'  ovvEKa.]  Thus  in  the  old  English,  the  ballad  of  the 
field-mouse : 

"  Who  for  because  her  livelihood  was  thin, 
Would  needs  go  seek  her  townish  sister's  house." 

2  Doederlin  remarks  that  y>is  ought  rather  to  be  made  to 
depend  upon  apY^'f  tlian  upon  'iao",  and  he  prefers  interpreting 
caov  vtixMv,  '■'■  parein  dignitatem  fribuens,  scil.  Jocasta?,  ut  Phil. 
1020:  ovSev  rjSv  yap  0£ol  vkjxomi  jxoi,  coll.  V.  1062,  Ant.  1373,  nam 
de  liberalitate  (Edipi  sermo  est,  quse  in  dando  posita  est,  non 
de  potentia  ejusdem,  quae  in  obtinendo  ceruitur."     B. 


34  GEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  [583-619. 

Cr.  Xot  so,  if  at  least  thou  wouldst  reason  with  thyself,  as 
I  do.  But  reflect  on  this  first,  if  thou  think  that  any  would 
choose  for  himself,  to  rule  in  a  state  of  apprehension,  ratlier 
than  to  sleep  fearless,  if  at  least  he  shall  still  have  the  same 
powers.  Neither,  then,  am  I  myself  of  a  nature  to  covet  the 
being  a  monarch  rather  than  the  acting  as  a  monarch,  nor 
any  other  who  has  a  sense  of  prudence ;  for  now  indeed  I 
receive  every  thing  from  thee  without  fear,  but  were  I  king 
myself  I  should  do  many  things  even  against  my  wishes. 
How  then  is  monarchy  naturally  more  pleasing  to  me  to 
possess,  than  rule  and  puissance  without  pain  ?  I  do  not 
yet  happen  to  be  so  nuich  deceived  as  to  wish  for  aught  else 
than  what  is  with  profit  honorable.  Now  I  am  friends  with 
all,  now  every  one  salutes  me,  now  they  avIio  have  a  suit  to 
thee^  summon  me  out ;  for  their  success  is  centered  altogether 
in  me.  How  then  should  I,  having  abandoned  this  place, 
grasp  at  that  other?  A  well-intentioned  spirit  could  not  be- 
come wicked.  But  I  am  neither  by  nature  a  warm  admirer 
of  this  same  sentiment,  nor  should  I  ever  venture  on  it  with 
another  to  effect  it :  and  as  a  test  of  this,  in  the  first  place, 
go  to  Delphi,  and  inquire  if  I  have  fairly  reported  to  thee, 
what  was  prophesied ;  thus  much  more ;  if  thou  detect  me 
to  have  complotted  aught  in  common  with  the  soothsayer, 
take  and  put  me  to  death,  not  by  a  single  suffrage,  but  by  a 
double  one,  both  mine  and  thine  ;  but  hold  me  not  guilty 
without  a  hearing,  on  an  uncertain  opinion.  For  it  is  not 
just  lightly  to  deem  the  wicked  good,  or  the  good  wicked. 
For  to  cast  away  a  virtuous  friend,  I  call  as  bad  as  to  cast 
away  one's  own  life,  which  one  loves  best.  But  in  time  thou 
shalt  discern  all  this,  without  fail,  since  time  alone  develops 
the  honest  man;  but  a  traitor  thou  mightest  discover  even  in 
one  day. 

Ch.  Comraendably  hath  he  spoken  to  one  who  is  cautious 
of  falling,  O  prince  ;  for  they  who  are  hasty  to  judge  are 
insecure. 

CEi>.  When  any  one  takes  quick  steps  in  covert  plots,  it 
needs  me  to  counteract  him  in  counsel  quickly  ;  but  if,  keep- 

1  Wunder  reads  aiKciWovai,  "court  me,"  from  the  conjecture 
of  Diud.  Perhaps  the  common  reading  may  be  defended  by 
Trach.  1206,  oia  //'  CKKaXel,  -Karep. 


620-643.]  CEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  35 

ing  quiet,  I  wait  for  him,  his  plans  will  be  accomplished, 
but  mind  marred. 

Cr.  Well  then,  what  is  thine  aim  ?  To  eject  me  from  the 
land  ? 

QEd.  By  no  means  :  I  wish  thee  to  die,  not  to  be  exiled. 

Cr.  When  thou  shalt  first  have  shown  the  nature  of  thy 
grudge  to  me. 

CEd.  Speakest  thou  as  one  who  will  obey  neither  command 
nor  agreement  ?^ 

Cr.   Yes  ;  for  I  see  thou  art  not  in  thy  right  mind. 

CEd.  For  my  own  interest  at  least. 

Cr.  But  thou  oughtest  as  much  for  mine  too. 

OEd,   But  thou  art  a  born  traitor. 

Cr.   But  what  an  thou  understandest  nothing? 

CEd.  Yet  still  one  must  be  ruled. 

Cr.  Surely  not  by  a  bad  ruler  at  least. 

OEd.  O  city,  city'! 

Cr.  I  too  have  a  part  in  the  city,  and  not  thou  only. 

Ch.  Princes,  desist ;  but  opportunely  for  you  both,  I  see 
Jocasta  advancing  from  the  palace,  in  concert  with  whom 
you  are  bound  amicably  to  settle  your  quarrel  now  pending. 

Jocasta.  Why,  infatuated,  have  ye  raised  this  unadvised 
strife  of  tongue,  nor  blush  ye,  when  our  land  is  thus  dis- 
eased, at  stirring  up  private  mischiefs?  Wilt  not  both  thou 
get  thee  home,  and  thou,  Creon,  to  thy  dwelling,  and  not 
raise  a  nothing  of  an  offense  to  magnitude  ? 

Cr.  Sister,  CEdipus,  thy  husband,  thinks  proper  to  do  me 
foul  wrong,  having  limited  choice  to  two  evils,  either  to 
banish  me  from  my  father's  land,  or  to  take  and  slay  me. 

(Ed.  I  confess  it ;  for  I  have  detected  him,  lady,  in  mal- 
practices against  my  person  with  wicked  craft. 

^  Dr.  Spillan's  version  has,  "Say  you  that  you  will  not  yield 
and  submit?"  The  Cambridge,  "  Do  you  speak  as  not  about  to 
depart  nor  to  obey  me?"  The  old  Oxford,  "Sayest  thou  that 
thou  wilt  neither  yield,  nor  obey?"  None  of  these  interpreta- 
tions appear  satisfactory.  I  think  there  is  some  error  in  -mre- 
vacov,  and  perhaps  no  interrogation  is  needed.  One  would  al- 
most expect  such  a  sense  as  this,  "  You  speak  as  one  that  can 
neither  yield  nor  convince."  Tap  is  similarly  used  in  a  passage 
very  like  the  present  one,  Trach.  1232,  cir  ipyaceicov  oiSev  Stv 
Xeyu  epouT.     YAAOS,  tiT  ydp  tzod  .     B. 


36  CEDIPUS  TYR ANNUS.  [644-679. 

Cr.  Xow  marl  never  prosper,  but  perish  accursed,  if  I 
have  done  aught  to  thee  of  what  thou  accusest  me  of  doing. 

Jo.  Oh  !  in  the  gods'  name,  Oedipus  be  persuaded  to  this : 
most  especially,  indeed,  in  respect  to  this  adjuration  of  the 
gods  ;  secondly,  to  both  me  and  these  Avho  are  here  present. 

Ch.  Be  prevailed  on,  willingly  and  sensibly,  O  king,  I 
implore  thee. 

(Ed.   What  wilt  thou,  then,  I  shall  concede  to  thee  ? 

Ch.  To  respect  him  who  neither  ere  now  was  imprudent, 
and  now  is  mighty  in  virtue  of  his  oath. 

(Ed.  Dost  know  then  what  thou  wishest? 

Ch.  I  do  know. 

(Ed.  Explain,  then,  what  thou  hast  to  say. 

Ch.  That  thou  bring  not  into  impeachment  and  disgrace 
thy  friend,  who  has  thus  made  oath,^  at  least  upon  an  uncer- 
tain charge. 

(Ed.  Know  now  full  well,  that  when  thou  seekest  this, 
thou  art  seeking  death  or  banishment  from  this  land  for  me. 

Ch.  No,  by  the  god,  chieftain  of  all  the  gods,  the  sun, 
since  I  wish  I  may  die  godless,  friendless,  the  direst  of  all 
deaths,  whatever  it  be,  if  I  have  this  design  ;  but  the  with- 
ering land  wears  out  the  spirits  of  hapless  me,  especially  if 
these  troubles,  I  mean  those  which  arise  from  you  two,  shall 
attach  to  the  previous  afflictions. 

CEd.  Then  let  him  begone  ;  ay,  if  it  be  my  destiny  utterly 
to  fall  a  victim,  or  be  thrust  out  by  violence,  dishonored 
from  this  country  ;  for  'tis  thy  piteous  appeal,  not  his,  that 
I  compassionate ;  but  he,  wherever  he  shall  be,  shall  be 
loathed. 

Cr.  Full  of  loathing,  indeed,  thou  plainly  showest  thyself 
in  yielding  ;  but  sad  [wilt  thou  be],  when  thou  shalt  have 
exceeded  in  thy  passion.  Such  tempers,  however,  are  justly 
the  most  painful  to  themselves  to  bear  with. 

CEd.  Wilt  thou  not  leave  me  alone,  and  get  thee  forth? 

Cr.  I  will  be  gone,  having  met  with  you  indeed  who 
know  me  not ;  but  in  the  eyes  of  these  men  just. 

Ch.  Lady,  why  delay  est  thou  to  convey  this  man  Avithin 
the  house? 

1  This  is  Erfurdt's  interpretation  of  evayn.  Liddell  well 
renders  it,  "who  has  pledged  himself  under  a  curse.''  See 
Lexicon,  sub  v.     B. 


68o-7o6.]  GEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  37 

Jo.  I  M'ill,  when  I  have  learned  at  least  what  may  have 
happened. 

Ch.  An  uncertain  suspicion  came  of  certain  words  :  even 
the  unjust  taunt  is  cutting. 

Jo.   From  both  of  them  ? 

Ch.  Even  so. 

Jo.  And  what  was  the  saying? 

Ch.  Enough,  enough  to  me  at  least  it  seems,  when  the 
land  is  previouslv  distressed,  that  it  rest  there  where  it  left 
off. 

(Et>.  Seest  thou  to  what  thou,  a  man  of  upright  intention, 
art  come,^  giving  up  my  side,  and  hardening  your  heart 
against  me  ? 

Ch.  O  prince,  I  have  said  not  once  alone,  but  know  that 
I  should  show  myself  beside  my  senses,  incapacitated  from 
regaining  those  senses,  were  I  to  secede  from  thee,  who  hast 
piloted  right  steadily  down  the  stream  mine  own  dear  land, 
when  rocking  about  in  troubles  ;  and  now  too,'-^  be  safe  con- 
voy to  it,  if  thou  mayest. 

Jo.  In  the  gods'  name  inform  me  also,  O  king,  from  what 
circumstances  on  earth  thou  hast  conceived  so  great  wrath  as 
this.  . 

OEd.  I  will  tell  thee  ;  for  I  hold  thee,  lady,  in  more  re- 
spect than  these  :  it  is  from  Creon  ;  that  he  has  plotted  such 
devices  against  me. 

Jo.  Speak,  if  thou  wilt  plainly  state  the  cause  of  quarrel, 
charging  it  on  him. 

(Et>.  He  says  that  I  am  the  murderer  of  Lai'us. 

Jo.  Of  his  own  privity,  or  having  learned  it  from  other? 

QLj).  Why,  by  having  sent  me  a  knavish  soothsayer,  how- 
ever ;  for  as  to  himself,  at  least,  he  exculpates  his  speech 
entirely.  "^ 

1  So  F.  Jacobs :  Trapisis"  is,  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge,  al- 
ways used  of  what  one  does  of  or  to  one's  self,  not  of  what  one 
causes  another  to  do.  (See  Ellendt.)  The  same  remark  applies 
to  v<pei^.  The  old  translation  was,  "  by  lowering  and  deadening 
my  spirit."     B. 

'^  Cf.  V.  52,  sq.  B.  ytvov  is  condemned  by  Hermann  as  spuri- 
ous. 

•^  I.e.,  from  having  accused  me.  It  appears  strange  that  so 
many  commentators  should  have  missed  the  true  sense  of  a 


38  CEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  [707-735. 

Jo.  Do  thou  now,  leaving  thine  own  matter  alone,  as 
touching  the  things  thou  speakest  of,  give  ear  to  me,  and 
learn  for  thy  comfort,  that  there  is  no  mortal  thing  possessed 
of  the  prophetic  art.  But  I  will  develop  to  thee  concise  evi- 
dence of  this.  For  long  ago  came  an  oracle  to  Laius,  I  will 
not  assert  from  Phoebus  himself,  however,  but  from  his  min- 
isters, that  his  doom  should  come  for  him  to  fall  by  a  son 
who  should  be  begotten  of  me  and  him.  And  him,  indeed, 
at  least  as  the  story  goes,  do  foreign  robbers  murder  on  a 
time,  at  the  junction  of  three  carriage-ways.  Bat  from  the 
birth  of  the  child  there  intervened  not  three  days  before  he, 
having  tied  the  joints  of  its  feet  together,  cast  it  away  by 
others'  hands,  upon  an  untrodden  mountain.  And  therein 
Apollo  brought  to  pass  neither  that  it  should  be  the  slayer 
of  its  father,  nor  that  Laius,  the  disaster  which  he  then 
dreaded,  should  die  by  his  son's  hand.  Such  fates  did  the 
prophetic  declarations  predetermine,  of  which  take  thou  no 
heed.  For  whatever  the  god  investigates  as  necessary,  will 
he  in  person  easily  make  appear. 

CEt>.  What  distraction  of  soul  and  perturbation  of  feelings 
at  this  moment  possess  me,  having  heard  thee,  lady. 

Jo.  By  what  manner  of  solicitude  altered  in  mind  sayest 
thou  this? 

OEd.  I  thought  I  heard  this  from  thee,  that  Laius  was 
slaughtered  near  three  highways. 

Jo.  Yes;  for  these  things  were  rumored,  nor  have  they 
yet  ceased  to  be. 

(Ed.  And  where  is  this  said  spot  where  this  catastrophe 
occurred  ? 

Jo.  Pliocis  the  land  is  called  :  but  a  separate  road  leads  to 
the  same  point  from  Delphi  and  from  Daulia. 

QEd.  And  what  is  the  time  that  has  elapsed  to  these 
events  ? 

-passage  so  strongly  marked  by  the  particles  nsv  ovv,  and  the  ye 
m  the  next  clause.  CEdipus  is  positive  {ovi/)  of  Tlresias  being 
merely  Creon's  mouth-piece,  though  Creou  himself  had  vindi- 
cated his  own  language.  See  Hermann's  and  Erfurdt's  notes. 
Tr. — More  simply,  "he  keeps  his  speech  free  from  such  asser- 
tion." In  Liddell's  Lexicon  it  is  rendered,  "every  man's 
tongue  is  ready  to  acquit  himself.''     B. 


736-755-]  CEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  39 

Jo.  Some  short  time  previous  to  thy  coming  forward  as 
ruler  of  this  land,  were  these  rumors  published  to  the  city. 

(Ed.  O  Jupiter,  what  hast  thou  purposed  to  do  by  me? 

Jo.  But  what,  O  (Edipus,  is  this  monster  of  thy  thought? 

(Ed.  Question  me  not  yet.^  But  of  Laius  tell  me  what 
personal  appearance  he  had,  and  that^  at  what  era  of  his 
prime. 

Jo.  Of  lofty  port,  just  now  whitening  to  down  the  hoary 
honors  of  his  head  :  but  he  was  not  very  unlike  thy  own 
form.^ 

QLt>.  Woe  me  unhappy  !  It  seems  I  have,  without  know- 
ing it,  even  now  forced  myself  prematurely  into  horrid 
curses. 

Jo.  How  sayest  thou?  verily  I  shudder  as  I  glance  at 
thee,  O  king. 

CEd.  Fearfully  am  I  despondent,  lest  the  prophet  see  too 
well :  but  thou  wilt  the  surer  demonstrate  it  if  thou  wilt  be 
explicit  on  one  more  point. 

Jo.  Indeed,  indeed  I  shrink  from  it ;  yet  what  thou  shalt 
ask,  if  aware,  I  will  tell. 

(Ed.  Was  he  journeying  thinly  attended,  or  with  a  train 
of  many  armed  retainers,  as  one  of  a  chieftain's  rank 
should? 

Jo.  They  were  five  altogether  ;  and  among  them  was  a 
herald  ;  but  a  single  chariot  conveyed  Laius. 

QEd.  Alas  !  all  this  is  now  full  clear.  Who  on  earth  was 
he  who  told  this  same  narrative  to  you,  lady  ? 

1  "  Not  yet."  Porsou  says,  ad  Hec.  1260  (ed.  Pors.),  that  nv-u 
is  used  for  hvttotc.  which  Erfurdt  quotes  ou  this  place,  although 
totally  iuapplicable,  and  quotes  moreover  without  the  most 
essential  part,  the  "  Xtrdrrys"  qusedam  "  of //"ttco  for  fifinorE  ;  which 
omission  might  lead  one  to  suppose  that  Porson  thought  the 
two  words  equivalent,  and  the  particle  ttw  to  have  two  senses. 

2  "And  that."  Erfurdt's  note  on  this  place  is  truly  admira- 
ble, when  contrasted  with  the  opinions  of  those  learned  men 
who,  by  dubbing  those  words  noirs  faineants  which  they  can 
not  express,  would  conceal  their  own  laziness  or  the  poverty 
of  modern  languages.  "Participia  excop,  XajSwi^,  et  alia  nunquam 
sic  ponuntur,  ut  nihil  plane  signilicent,  semperque  imaginibus 
rerum  ad  summam  illam,  cui  Grsecorum  nobilissima  gens  per 
omnia  studebat,  perfectiouem  exprimendis  inserviunt." 

»  See  Schiegel's  Vllth  Lecture,  p.  102.     B. 


40  CEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  [756-782. 

Jo.  A  certain  domestic,  who  in  fact  Avas  the  only  one  who 
returned  safely  escaped. 

(J^T>.  And  does  he  happen  to  be  now  at  hand  in  the 
palace  ? 

Jo.  O  no  !  for  from  the  time  when  he  returned  thence  and 
saw  both  thee  holding  the  government,  and  Laius  dead,  he 
petitioned  me,  grasping  my  hand,  to  send  him  into  the 
country  and  to  the  pastures  of  the  flocks,  that  he  might  be 
most  completely  removed  from  sight  of  this  city.  And  I 
sent  him  :  for  he  was  worthy,  considering  he  was  a  slave,  to 
obtain  even  a  higher  favor  than  this. 

(Ed.   Would  then  that  he  might  return  to  us  speedily  ! 

Jo.  It  is  possible  :  but  Avherefore  seekest  thou  this  ? 

CEd.  For  myself  I  fear,  lady,  lest  overmuch  have  been 
said  by  me,  for  which  cause  I  wish  to  see  him. 

Jo.  Nay,  he  shall  come.  But  surely  I  also  am  worthy  to 
learn,  at  least  what  circumstances  are  irksome  to  thee,  O 
king. 

CEd.  And  thou  surely  must  by  no  means  be  disappointed 
of  this,  when  I  have  now  arrived  at  such  a  pitch  of  expect- 
ancy.^ For  to  Avhom  could  I  speak  w^ho  would  be  of  more 
account  even  than  thou,  when  implicated  in  such  a  fate  as 
this  ?  I  had  for  my  father  Polybus  of  Corinth,  for  my  mother, 
Merope  of  Doris  ;  and  I  was  esteemed  chiefest  in  rank  of  the 
citizens  of  Corinth,  before  an  accident  befell  me  such  as  I 
shall  tell,  worthy  indeed  of  wonder,  but  unworthy  never- 
theless of  the  interest  I  took  in  it.  For  at  a  banquet  a  man 
overcharged  with  wine,  brands  me  over  his  cups  with  being 
a  supposititious  son  of  my  father.  And  I,  deeply  displeased, 
with  much  ado  restrained  me  for  that  day  ;  but  on  the  next 
I  visited  my  mother  and  my  father,  and  strictly  questioned 
them ;  but  they  were  highly  offended  for  the  affront  with 
him  who  gave  vent  to  the  assertion.  And  1  was  pleased  in- 
deed with  them  :  but  yet  this  [innuendo]  was  always  galling 
'  me,  for  it  had  sunk  deep  in  my  mind.  So  unknown  to  my 
mother  and  father  I  go  on  a  journey  to  Delphi.  And  Phoebus, 
as  to  the  matters  for  which  I  came,  sent  me  away  without 

1  Erfurdt,  referring  to  v,  829,  thinks  i:\-i~  correctly  trans- 
lated by  hope  here.  The  other  seems  the  most  natural  sequel 
to  Oedipus'  words  immediately  preceding. 


783-Soo.]  CEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  41 

the  honor  of  an  answer  ;  but  other  fortunes,  wretched,  and 
horrible,  and  deplorable,  he  was  but  too  ready  to  telP  that 
it  was  my  doom  to  commit  incest  with  my  mother,  and 
that  I  should  bring  to  light  a  progeny  mankind  should  not 
endure  to  beliold,  and  that  I  should  be  the  murderer  of  the 
father  who  begot  me.  And  I  on  hearing  this,  from  that  time 
forth  mea'^uring^  out  the  site  of  the  land  of  Corinth  by  the 
stars,  began  my  flight  from  it  to  where  I  might  never  witness 
the  scandals  of  those  evil  prophecies  about  me  accomplished. 
But  in  my  travel  I  reach  those  very  spots  on  which  thou 
sayest  that  this  same  monarch  met  his  death.  And  to  thee, 
lady,  will  I  divulge  the  truth  :  Avhen  I  wending  on  my  way* 

1  Upov(l)ai>ri  XiXcov.  Aperie  prxdixii,  Brunck.  But  both  the  sense 
of  the  passage  and  the  force  of  ■!rpo(pavr}Te  in  the  first  chorus  are 
in  favor  of  the  other  rendering.  Tr. — Wunder  reads  ~po\)ii>r}vcv, 
\kyMv.    See  his  note,     B. 

2  But  see  Heath.     B. 

3  This  is  the  first  of  four  passages  which  Hermann  in  his 
preface  to  Erfurdt's  edition  has  specially  noticed.  Elmsley  in 
his  preface  has  these  words;  "  'H  pro  rw,  eram,  quater  reposui. 
'Hv  aliquoties  ante  vocalem  legitur  apud  Euripidem,  ut  in  Hip- 
pol.  1012;  Ale.  658;  Iph.  Aul.  944;  Ion.  280.  Qnamquam  hffic 
omnia  corrupta  esse  suspicor.  Sic  etiam  ter  Aristophanes,  sed 
in  Pluto,  novissima  omnium  fabula,  v.  29,  695,  823.  Nihil  tale 
apud  Sophoclem  reperitur.  Vid.  (Ed.  Tvr.  801,  112.3,  1.389, 
1393;  CEd.  Col.  768,  97.3,  1366;  Trach.  87,  414;  Aj.  1377;  Phil. 
1219;  El.  1023."  From  this  remark  of  our  critic,  Hermann 
has  taken  occasion  to  dilate  at  some  length  on  the  propriety  of 
limiting  the  alteration  proposed,  and  brings  forward  the  follow- 
ing points  for  consideration:  1st.  That  if  the  tragic  writers 
never,  and  Aristophanes  only  in  his  latest  written  play,  used 
rjv,  it  is  strange  that  Plato,  many  of  whose  writings  are  subse- 
quent to  the  Plutus,  should  have  adhered  to  the  obsolete  form. 
That  to  the  above  lines  of  Euripides  no  other  suspicion  of  a 
corrupt  text  can  attach  than  the  identical  v  in  question;  and 
that  therefore  it  were  safer  to  have  determined  that  tragic  and 
comic  writers  used  vv,  in  order  to  avoid  the  hiatus  before  a 
vowel.  2d.  That  if  ea  or  va  and  i'ov  be  found  in  Homer  as  im- 
perfects of  elfit,  the  old  grammarians  considered  rjriv  no  less  so 
(II.  0,  80)  :  that  the  ea  of  Herodotus,  the  imperfect,  seems  dif- 
ferent from  Homer's  ta,  which  in  one  instance  (Od.  ^  351 ),  must 
be  taken  as  an  aorist,  and  may  in  all  he  has  cited.    3d.  That 


42  CEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  [801-835. 

was  close  upon  this  triple  road,  there  did  both  a  herald,  and 
a  man  mounted  on  a  chariot  with  young  steeds,  even  as  thou 
describest,  meet  me  ;  and  both  the  guide  and  the  old  man 
himself  were  for  driving  me  by  force  off  the  road.  So  I  in 
passion  strike  him  who  was  turning  me  off,  the  charioteer. 
And  the  old  man  M'hen  he  sees  this,  having  watched  my 
passing  by,  struck  me  from  the  car  with  a  doubled  goad  a 
descending  blow  on  the  middle  of  the  head.  Ay,  and  he 
paid  a  penalty  not  equivalent,  I  trow,  but  hastily  struck  by 
a  staff  from  this  hand,  he  is  instantly  rolled  out  of  the  chariot 
prostrate,  and  I  slay  the  whole  of  them.  But  if  Laius  and 
this  same  stranger  have  any  near  connection,^  who  is  a  more 
pitiable  object  than  I,  even  I?  What  man  could  there  be 
more  abhorred  of  the  gods  ?  to  whom  it  is  permitted  that 
none  of  the  strangers  or  natives  should  admit  him  within 
their  dwellings  ;  that  none  should  even  accost  him,  but  tlirust 
him  from  their  dwellings  :  and  this  it  was  no  other  than  I, 
that  fastened  on  myself  even  these  curses.  Xay  the  couch 
of  him  who  is  deceased  do  I  pollute  by  my  hands,  those 
hands  by  which  he  fell.  Am  I  not  by  nature  a  villain?  am 
I  not  totally  impure?  if  I  must  needs  flee  the  country,  and 
having  fled  am  to  be  permitted  neither  to  behold  my  own, 
nor  to  set  foot  on  my  native  soil  ;  or  I  am  doomed  to  be 
yoked  in  wedlock  with  my  mother,^  and  to  kill  outright  my 
father  Polybus,  who  reared,  who  begot  me.  And  would  not 
any  one,  pronouncing  all  this  to  be  the  work  of  a  ruthless 
djemon  upon  me,  be  right  in  his  words?  Then  O  may  I  never, 
may  I  never,  thou  spotless  majesty  of  heaven,  see  this  day, 
but  may  I  be  gone  from  among  mankind  into  darkness  ere 
that  I  view  such  a  taint  of  misery  come  upon  me. 

Ch.  To  us,  O  king,  these  tidings  are  alarming  :  until  how- 
evef  thou  hast  ascertained  fully  from  the  eyewitness,  have 
hope. 

the  Attics  may,  as  in  other  cases  of  a  double  imperfect,  have 
taken  »1,  though  formed  from  the  undoubted  imperfect  ea,  as 
an  aorist.  For  the  examples  adduced  in  support  of  this  opin- 
ion, see  Hermann's  preface.  In  this  passage  he  retains  >>,  ad- 
mitting either  to  be  correct. 

1  This  verse  is  condemned  by  L.  Dindorf  and  Wuudcr.     B. 

2  Wunder's  objections  to  this  verse  seem  reasonable.     B. 


836-870.]  CEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  43 

CEd.  Yes,  certainly,  so  much  hope  at  least  I  have,  as 
merely  to  abide  the  coming  of  the  man,  the  herdsman. 

Jo.  But  when  he  has  made  his  appearance,  what  reas- 
surance canst  thou  have? 

QLd.  I  will  inform  thee.  For  should  he  be  found  to  be 
in  the  same  story  with  thee,  I  for  my  part  may  have  escaped 
the  woe. 

Jo.  But  what  word  heardst  thou  from  me,  so  particularly 
remarkable? 

OEi).  Thou  toldst  that  he  spake  of  certain  robbers,  that 
they  slew  the  king  :  if  therefore  he  shall  report  the  same 
number  still,  I  was  not  his  slayer,  for  one  at  least  could  not 
be  the  same  with  many.  But  if  he  shall  mention  one  man 
journeying  alone,  this  very  deed  thereupon  plainly  falls 
upon  me. 

Jo.  Nay,  be  assured  that  the  tale  was  so  published  at 
least,  and  he  can  not  again  nullify  this  at  any  rate  ;  for  the 
whole  city,  and  not  I  only,  heard  Ihese  tidings.  But  if,  after 
all,  he  should  in  any  point  deviate  from  his  former  account, 
never,  O  prince,  shall  he  show  that  Lai'us'  murder  at  least 
was  duly  consistent,  whom  I  ween  Loxias  declared  must 
perish  by  a  son  of  mine.^  And  yet  he,  the  ill-starred  babe, 
never  slew  him,  but  himself  perished  long  before.  So  that  I 
never  again  for  the  sake  of  divination  at  least  would  turn 
mine  eyes  either  this  way  or  that. 

CEd.  Well  dost  thou  determine ;  but  yet  send  one  to  con- 
vey hither  the  hind,  nor  neglect  this. 

Jo.  I  will  hasten  to  dispatch  one  ;  but  let  us  go  in  doors  ; 
for  I  would  do  naught  which  might  be  displeasing  to  thee. 

Chorus.  O  may  it  be  my  lot  to  support  the  all-sainted 
purity  of  every  word  and  action,  regarding  which  are  pro- 
pounded laws  of  state  sublime,  engendered  within  the  firma- 
ment of  heaven,  whose  only  father  is  Olympus  ;  nor  did  the 
perishable  nature  of  man  give  them  being,  no,  nor  shall 
oblivion  even  drown  them  in  sleep.  Great  is  the  divinity 
in  these,  nor  groweth  old.  Insolence  engenders  the  tyrant, 
Insolence,  if  idly  she  have  been  over-glutted  with  much  that 

1  This  passage  is  not  clear.  Bothe  and  Wunder  read,  cov  ys 
for  rov  y£,  "  nondum  tameu  a  te  Laium  interfectum  esse  omnino 
probat."    B. 


44  CEDIPUS  TYR ANNUS.  [871-892. 

is  neither  seasonable  nor  serviceable,  having  surmounted 
the^  topmost  precipice,  dashes  onward  into  ruin,  where  she 
useth  her  feet  in  vain  But  the  rival  energy  that  profits  the 
state  I  implore  the  deitv  never  to  unnerve  ;  whom  never 
will  I  cease  to  take  for  my  patron.  But  if  any  walk  pre- 
sumptuously in  deed  or  word,  unawed  of  justice  nor  rever- 
encing the  seats  of  the  powers  above,  may  evil  doom  over- 
take him  in  reward  of  his  fatal  wantonness  ;  until  he  shall 
gain  his  gains  honestly,  and  refrain  himself  from  all  un- 
hallowed things,  or  if  he,  vain  fool,  shall  grasp  at  what  is 
sacred  from  the  touch. ^  In  this  state  of  things,  what  man 
will  ever  gain  glory^  in  repulsing  from  his  soul  the  darts  of 

^  But  aKporarov  and  aToro/zoi'  can  uot  be  joined,  and  there  is 
equal  difficulty  in  the  metrical  disagreement  between  this  and 
the  strophic  verse.  Dindorf  supposes  some  substantive  lost, 
which  Wuuder  thinks  may  have  given  place  to  one  of  the 
adjectives.  I  do  not,  however,  see  why  he  should  object  to 
joining  d-oroiiov  with  avayKav,  for  d-::6Toi.ioi  may  be  taken  both 
in  its  ordinary  sense  of  "abruptus"  (Cf.  Herodot.  1,  84),  and 
for  '"harsh,  rough,''  as  we  find  in  Eurip,  Alcest.  931,  ovck  ns 

d-zoro^ov  \)ij.iar5g  iariv  ai^  's.      B. 

2  The  difficulty  in  this  passage  arises  from  the  separation 

of  the  two   clauses,  ft'  n^  .  .  -opiverai  and  n  tuiv  eB  .  £^  .  jwa-a^coi/, 

by  the  intermediate  words.  With  'iplerai  we  must  understand 
/t??,  and  connect  it  closely  with  the  preceding  words.     B. 

^  This  translation  follows  Hermann's  correction,  evlerai  .  . 
B'pov  ..  duvvirv;  but  Hermann  has  himself  changed  his  mind, 
and  would  throw  out  tpUrai  altogether,  in  which  he  is  followed 
by  Wunder  in  his  third  edition,  ep^erai  can  not  be  construed. 
Hermann's  third  opinion  is  that  we  should  read  rig  en  -or  tv 
roiac'  ai'hp,  Oecov  0e\ij  rvxag  duvpEiv.  Brunck  reads  e^et,  Elmsley 
e'cij^Ercii.  As  this  variation  of  opinions  will  sufficiently  puzzle 
the  reader,  I  will  merely  observe  that  Brunck's  reading  ap- 
pears easiest,  and  that  Hermann's  last  opinion,  as  m  many 
other  instances,  is  his  worst.  Dindorf  leaves  the  text  unin- 
telligible. 0rt/<oj  must  not  be  altered,  for  it  is  against  passion 
that  the  whole  advice  of  the  Chorus  is  directed.  And  if  altered, 
what  are  ai  roialh  TTpa^Eis^  The  sense  ought  doubtless  to  be 
that  expressed  by  the  translator,  or  something  near  it,  and 
the  chief  difficulty  appears  to  rest  in  the  verb  to  be  employed. 
With  this  chorus  compare  the  one  in  the  4th  act  of  Seneca's 
CEdipus.     B. 


893-920.]  CEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  45 

passion?  for  if  practices  such  as  these  be  had  in  honor,  why 
need  I  lead  the  chorus?  Never  again  will  I  make  pilgrim- 
age to  the  hallowed  center  of  earth  as  worshiper,  nor  to  the 
shrine  at  Abte,  nor  to  the  Olympian,  unless'  these  matters 
shall  turn  out  congruous,  so  as  to  be  pointed  at  by  the  finger 
of  all  mankind.  But,  O  sovereign  Jove,  if  indeed  thou  art 
rightly  styled  ruler  of  the  universe,  be  it  not  unregarded  by 
thee  and  thine  ever-undying  empire.  For  already  they  are 
overthrowing  the  prophecies  delivered  to  Laius,  which  fall 
into  decay,  and  nowhere  is  Apollo  conspicuous  in  worship, 
but  all  that  is  divine  is  going  to  ruin. 

Jo."^  Princes  of  the  land,  the  design  has  suggested  itself  to 
me  of  repairing  a  suppliant  to  the  temples  of  the  gods,  liav- 
ing  taken  in  my  hands  these  chaplets  and  incense-offerings. 
For  ffidipus  raises  his  feelings  to  too  high  excitement  by 
griefs  of  every  variety,  nor,  as  should  a  man  of  understand- 
ing, conjectures  what  is  new  by  what  is  old  ;  but  is  the 
speaker's  dupe,  if  he  but  speak  of  horrors.  Since  then  by 
advising  I  make  none  the  more  progress,  to  thee,  O  Lyctean 
Apollo,'^  seeing  thou  art  nearest  at  hand,  am  I  come  a  peti- 

^  The  construction  seems  rather  to  be  el  fin  tuSe  dpjxoGsi  -rrdcnv 
Pparoig,  wore  x^'porieiKra  elvat,  "unless  these  things  shall  turn 
out  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  mortals,  so  that  they  may  point 
to  them  with  the  finger."     B. 

2  Jocasta  here,  contrasted  with  the  Jocasta  of  the  following 
scenes,  seems  an  instance  of  that  d/idAwj  ao-j^aAoj  of  Aristotle, 
which  Bossu  so  well  illustrated  hy  the  regular  irregularities 
of  "th'  inconstant  moon."  That  Jocasta  is  amoi.ia\og  in  the  play 
is  evident;  but  is  she  so  o//aXwf  ?  The  mother  who  in  three 
days  from  the  birth  of  her  first-born  could  abandon  him  to 
his  fate  without  an  efibrt  to  save  him  ;  the  queen-consort  who 
could  so  soon  forget  the  husband  of  her  youth  that  in  such 
time  as  it  took  to  finish  a  journey  from  Delphi  to  Thebes,  hear 
and  solve  a  riddle,  she  could  wed  an  utter  stranger;  such  a 
woman  might  assuredly,  without  violation  of  historic  truth, 
be  represented  as  changing  with  the  breath  of  every  rumor. 
If  any  thing  were  wanting  to  make  the  character  more  natural, 
it  is  supplied  in  her  clear-sightedness  with  regard  to  her  hus- 
band, who,  says  she,  £(tti  tov  Xeyovrog,  quite  unconscious  of  this 
being  her  own  chief  weakness. 

3  Probably  having  an  altar  on  the  stage,  in  front  of  the  pal- 
ace.   See  the  Schol.     B. 


46  CEDIPUS  TYR ANNUS.  [921-951. 

tioner  with  these  rites  of  prayer,  that  thou  mavest  furnish 
us  with  some  holy  remedy,  since  now  we  are  all  quailing  to 
see  him,  as  pilot  of  the  vessel,  horror-stricken. 

Messenger.  Could  I  learn  from  you,  strangers,  where  is 
the  abode  of  the  monarch  Qildipus?  hut  chiefly  of  himself, 
tell  me  if  ye  know  where  he  is. 

Ch.  This  is  his  mansion,  and  himself  is  within,  stranger  ; 
but  this  lady  is  the  mother  of  his  children. 

Mes.  But  may  she  be  prosperous  herself,  and  ever  con- 
sort with  the  prosperous,^  for  that  she  is  his  true  and  proper 
wife. 

Jo.  Nay,  and  thou  also  the  same,  O  stranger,  since  thou 
deservest  it  for  thy  courteous  accost  :  but  make  known  in 
quest  of  what  thou  hast  come,  and  what  desirous  to  impart. 

Mes.  Good  to  thy  house  and  husband,  lady. 

Jo.  Of  what  nature  this  same  good  ?  and  from  wlience  ar- 
rived ? 

Mes.  From  Corinth  ;  but  at  the  tale  which  I  shall  divulge 
thou  mightst  perhaps  be  gratified  ;  nay,  how  shouldst  thou 
not  ?  yet  haply  mightst  thou  be  sorry. 

Jo.  But  what  is  it  ?  what  sort  of  twofold  force  does  it  thus 
possess  ? 

Mes.  The  inhabitants  of  the  Isthmian  land  will  set  him 
up  for  their  king,  as  was  there  reported. 

Jo.  But  what  ?  is  not  the  aged  Polybus  still  on  the  throne  ? 

Mes.  No  truly,  since  death  prisons  him  in  the  grave. 

Jo.  How  hast  thou  said?  is  Polybus  deceased,  old  man? 

Mes.  If  I  speak  not  the  truth,  I  confess  me  worthy  of 
death. 

Jo.  Ho,  handmaiden,  wilt  thou  not  be  gone  and  tell  this 
with  all  speed  to  thy  lord  ?  Predictions  of  the  gods,  where 
are  ye  ?  This  very  man  Qildipus,  long  ago  in  alarm  lest  he 
should  murder,  went  into  banishment,  and  now,  behold  !  he 
has  perished  by  course  of  nature,  not  by  my  husband. 

OEDIPUS.  O  dearest  head  of  my  Avife  Jocasta,  wherefore 
hast  thou  sent  for  me  hither  out  of  the  palace  here  ? 

1  Here  seems  to  be  a  masterly  allusion  to  the  real  state  of 
things.  The  very  messenger,  whose  intelligence  leads  to  the 
fatal  discovery,  lays  emphatic  stress  upon  the  married  felicity 
of  Jocasta !  Musgrave  has  made  a  similar  remark  respecting 
the  words,  yvvn  ie^ifjmp.    B. 


952-976.]  CEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  47 

Jo.  Listen  to  this  man,  and  as  thou  hearest,  mark  to  what 
are  come  the  solemn  predictions  of  the  god. 

CEd.  But  who  can  this  man  be,  and  what  has  he  to  tell 
me? 

Jo.  From  Corinth,  to  bring  thee  news  that  thy  father 
Polybus  is  no  more,  but  is  dead. 

(Ed,  What  sayest  thou,  stranger  ?  Do  thou  thyself  be- 
come my  informant. 

Mes.  If  I  must  first  deliver  me  of  this  fact  clearly,  be 
assured  that  he  is  dead  and  gone.^ 

CEb.  By  treachery,  or  the  encounter  of  disease  ?^ 

Mes.  a  trifling  bend  of  the  scale  sends  aged  frames  to 
rest. 

CEd.  By  sickness,  it  seems,  the  poor  sufferer  wasted  away. 

Mes.  And^  commensurately,  I  ween,  with  a  long  time  of 
life. 

(Ed.  Alas  !  alas  !  when  then,  my  queen,  should  any  one 
regard  the  prophetic  hearth  of  Pytho,  or  the  birds  that 
scream  above  our  heads,  under  whose  predestination  I  was 
fated  to  slay  my  own  father?  But  he  is  dead  and  buried 
deep  down  in  earth,  while  I  here  before  you  am  guiltless  of 
handling  weapon  against  him,  unless  in  any  degree  he  pined 
away  from  regret  of  me,^  but  so  he  might  have  died  by  my 
means.  The  present  oracles  then  Polybus  has  swept  off  with 
him  utterly  worthless,  and  lies  in  Hades. 

Jo.  Did  I  not  now  forewarn  thee  of  this  long  ago  ? 

CEd.  Thou  didst  say  it ;  but  I  was  led  away  by  my  fear. 

Jo.  See  thou  no  longer  give  one  of  them  place  in  thy  mind 
now. 

CEd.  And  how  must  I  not  shrink  from  a  mother's  bed? 


^  Not  with  oMv  understood  after  0ai/ao-(/ioi/,  but  the  latter  agre- 
ing  with  ^t^nxora,  according  to  Erfurdt. 

2  Seneca  CEdip.  activ.  so.  2,  4,  "Edissere  agedum,  quo  cadat 
fato  parens.  Senex.  Animam  senilem  mollis  exsolvit  sopor." 
B. 

3  ivnjxcTpovjxtvo^  must  be  taken  with  £00(ro  understood,  as  if  it 
were  the  adverb  IvfineTpovulvws-.  This  is  much  the  most  simple 
way.     B. 

*  Perhaps  for  ovtm  S'  we  should  read  ovtm  y\  "  ita  saltern," 
"So,  forsooth,  he  might  have  died  by  my  means."     B. 


48  (EDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  [977-997- 

Jo.^  But  why  should  man  fear,  whom  the  decrees  of  chance 
control,  while  there  is  no  certain  foresight  of  aught  ?  'T  were 
best  to  live  at  random,  e'en  as  one  could.  But  have  thou  no 
fear  of  the  bridal  alliance  with  thy  mother  ;  for  many  among 
mankind  have  ere  now,  and  that  in  dreams,  done  incest  with 
a  mother ;  but  to  whomsoever  this  reckons  as  nothing,  he 
bears  his  life  the  easiest. 

(Ed.  Fairly  had  all  this  been  stated  by  thee,  had  my 
mother  happened  not  to  have  been  alive  ;  but  now,  since  she 
does  live,  there  is  positive  necessity,  even  though  thou  sayest 
fairly,  for  me  to  recoil. 

Jo.  And  yet  the  burial  of  thy  father  at  least  throws  a  great 
light  on  this. 

H1t>.  Great,  I  admit ;  but  I  have  dread  of  the  surviving 
woman. 

Mes.  But  on  what  woman's  account  it  is  even  that  ye  are 
afraid  ? 

G^^D.  Of  Merope,  old  man,  with  whom  Polybus  used  to 
live. 

Mes.  But  what  is  there  of  her  which  makes  to  your  ap- 
prehension ? 

(Ed.  a  dreadful  heaven-sent  prediction,  stranger. 

Mes.  Is  it  to  be  spoken,  or  is  it  not  lawful  that  another 
know  it  ? 

(Et>.  Most  certainly  it  is.  For  Apollo  foretold  once  that 
it  was  my  destiny  to  be  my  own  mother's  paramour,  and 
with  mine  own  hands  to  shed  my  father's  blood.  For  which 
cause  has  Corinth,  this  long  while,  been  dwelt  far  away  from 

1  These  reflections  on  the  part  of  the  king  and  queen  are  the 
more  ungrateful,  in  that  Apollo  had  just  sent  them,  without 
demur,  instructions  for  the  removal  of  the  plague.    The  whole 
demeanor  of  these  impious  personages,  who 
"  Lifted  up  so  high, 
Disdained  subjection,  and  thought  one  step  higher 
AVould  set  them  highest;" 
and  their  encouragement  of  each  other  in  irreligion,  reminds 
one  forcibly  of  Vathek  and  Xourouihar,  when  "with  haughty 
and  determined  gait"  they  descended  the  staircase  of  Istak- 
har  to  the   Hall  of  Eblis.     In  both  princes  curiosity  is  the 

prime  agent;    and   in   both  "TiSptr,  aKpdrarov  Eiaava^aa     a-rroronov. 


998--1018.]  CEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  49 

by  me,  prosperously  indeed  ;  but  still  it  is  most  sweet  to  be- 
hold the  faces  of  one's  parents. 

Mes.  Why,  was  it  in  dread  of  this  thou  becamest  an  exile 
from  thence? 

(Ed.  And  from  desire  also  to  avoid  being  my  father's 
murderer,  old  man. 

Mes.  Why  then  have  I  not  released  thee  from  this  thy 
fear,  O  king,  since  in  fact  I  came  thy  well-wisher? 

CEd.  And  if  you  do  so,  thou  shalt  have  a  right  worthy 
recompense  of  me. 

Mes.  Ay,  and  I  swear  I  came  especially  for  this,  that,  on 
thy  restoration  to  thy  home,  I  might  in  some  way  be  ad- 
vantaged. 

CEd.  But  never  will  I  come  into  the  presence  of  my 
parents,  at  least. 

Mes.  My  son,  thou^  fairly  showest  that  thou  knowest  not 
what  thou  art  doing. 

G^D.  How,  old  man  ?  In  the  name  of  the  gods,  instruct 
me. 

Mes.  If  for  these  causes  thou  shunnest  to  return  home. 

(Ed.  It  is  at  least  from  alarm  lest  Phoebus  prove  in  the 
issue  true  toward  me. 

Mes.  Is  it  lest  thou  shouldst  contract  contamination  from 
thy  parents  ? 

CEd.  This  very  thing,  old  man,  even  this  forever  affrights 
me. 

Mes.  Knowest  thou  not,  then,  that  thou  tremblest  with 
no  just  cause  ? 

Mb.  Nay,  how  should  I  not,  at  least  if  I  was  the  child  of 
these  progenitors  ? 

Mes.  Even  because  Polybus  was  in  no  wise  of  kin  to 
thee. 

CEd.  How  hast  thou  said?  Why,  was  not  Polybus  my 
father  ? 

Mes.  Not  a  whit  more  than  he  thou  seest  before  thee, 
about  as  much. 

1  This  is  the  most  literal  construing  of  Ka\co~  eJ  SnXoT.  On 
KrtXws-  lu  the  sense  of  "valde,"  "prorsus,"  see  Wakefield  and 
Schsefer.  Compare  the  Latin  phrases  "pulchre  scire,  intelli- 
gere."    B. 


50  (EDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  [1019-1037. 

(Ed.  And  how  comes  one's  father  to  be  on  a  par  with  no 
one?i 

Mes.  But  neither  he  begat  thee,  nor  I. 

(Ed.  But  in  consideration  of  what,  then,  did  he  allow  me 
a  son's  title? 

Mes.  Know,  it  was  from  having  received  thee  formerly  a 
present  from  my  hands. 

CEd.  And  then  did  he,  though  from  another's  hand,  thus 
dearly  love  me  ? 

Mes.  Yes,  for  his  former  childless  state  induced  him. 

CEd.  But  wert  thou  my  purchaser  or  parent,^  and  gavest 
me  to  him  ? 

Mes.  Having  found  thee  in  the  bushy  dells  of  Cithaeron. 

CEd.  But  for  what  purpose  wert  thou  a  wayfarer  in  those 
said  regions? 

Mes.  I  used  to  be  superintendent  there  of  the  mountain 
flocks. 

CEd.  How  !  wert  thou  a  shepherd  and  a  wanderer  on  a 
menial  drudgery  ? 

Mes.  Ay,  but  thy  savior  at  the  same  time,  my  son  ! 

CEd.  But  what  pain  dost  thou  find  me  suffering  in  that 
wretchedness  ? 

Mes.  The  joints  of  thy  feet  might  attest  that. 

CEd.  Woe  is  me  !  why  mention  this  ancient  curse  ? 

Mes.  I  unbind  thee  having  the  soles  of  thy  feet  bored 
through. 

CEd.  Dire  indignity,  indeed,  did  I  sustain  from  these 
tokens.^ 

1  This,  according  to  Erfurdt,  is  not  to  be  understood  of  the 
meanness  or  nothingness  of  the  herdsman,  but,  as  he  para- 
phrases it,  "Qui  dici  possunt  genuisse  aliquem,  quorum  nemo 
geuuit?"     See  v.  838,  and  the  note  following, 

2  "  Or  parent."  Hermann  remarks  that  it  might  seem  won- 
derful for  CEdipus  to  ask  this,  when  the  messenger  had  just 
told  him  that  he  was  not  his  father  any  more  than  Polybus; 
but  that  he  must  consider  CEdipus  as  attending  to  the  inten- 
tion of  the  old  man,  and  not  his  words.  Hence,  too,  when 
CEdipus  says  rws"  6  eiaa^  £|  'iaov  tc3  jxridEvi,  he  does  not  allude 
slightingly  to  the  old  man,  but  merely  to  himself  having  no 
father. 

^  Bruuck  translates  a~{xpyava  by  crepundia,  child's  baubles  or 


1038-1053.]  O^.DIPUS  TYRANNUS.  51 

Mes.  Insomuch  that  thou  wert  named  this  misfortune  as 
thou  art. 

(Ed.  Say,  in  heaven's  name,  by  my  father's  or  my  mother's 
deed  ? 

Mes.  I  know  not ;  but  he  who  gave  thee  understands  this 
better  than  I. 

CEd.  Why  didst  thou  receive  me  of  another,  nor  find  me 
thyself? 

Mes.  I  found  thee  not,  but  'tis  another  shepherd  who 
transferred  thee  to  me. 

CEd.  Who  was  this  ?  knowest  thou  to  designate  him  in 
words  ? 

Mes.  He  was  named,  I  am  sure,  one  of  the  servants  of 
La'ius. 

CEd.  Of  him  who  was  monarch  of  this  land  long  ago  ? 

Mes.  Certainly.     Of  that  very  man  was  this  a  herdsman. 

CEd.  And  is  he  yet  alive,  that  I  may  see  him? 

Mes.  You,  the  natives  of  this  country  surely  should  best 
know. 

Qi^D.  Is  there  any  of  you  bystanders  who  knows  this 
herdsman  to  Avhom  he  alludes,  having  seen  him  in  short 
either  in  the  country  or  here  ?  inform  me,  since  it  is  the 
moment  for  this  to  be  investigated., 

Ch.  I,  indeed,  deem  him  none  other  than  the  servant 
from  the  country,  whom  even  before  this  thou  soughtest 
diligently  to  see.  But,  however,  Jocasta  here  could  certify 
this  the  best. 

badges,  not  supplying  ck,  which  dv£i\6jxr)v  however  seems  to  re- 
quire. Perhaps  there  might  have  been  in  a-ndpyat'ov  a  sense  not 
given  by  lexicographers,  from  the  verb  oTrapyaa),  tumeo.  Tr., 
who  rendered  it,  "Ah,  dire  indignity,  indeed,  did  I  bring 
off  with  me  from  my  swaddling  clothes."  But  it  is  far 
more  elegant  to  suppose  an  allusion  to  the  crepundia,  which 
were  hung  about  the  necks  of  children  when  exposed,  (See 
Wunder's  note.)  To  these  CEd i pus  compares  the  wounds  in  his 
feet.  Nicolaus  Damascenus,  in  the  same  MS.  extract  quoted 
above,  uses  the  phrase  (oSst  yap  tovt  ■n-dSas'  vnd  anapyavwv.  Seneca, 
who  imitates  this  whole  scene  closely,  understood  it  as  I  do, 
act.  4,  sc.  2,  39:  CEdipus.  "Nunc  adjice  eertas  corporis  nostri 
notas.  Senex.  Forato  ferro  gesseras  vestigia,  Tumore  uactus 
uomeu  ac  vitio  pedum."     B. 


52  CEDIPUS  TYR ANNUS.  [1054-10S5. 

(Ed.  Lady,  knowest  thou  him  whom  but  now  we  were 
earnest  should  come,  and  of  whom  this  person  speaks? 

Jo.  {u'ildly.)  B\itwho,  Avho  is  he  of  whom  he  spake?  Heed 
it  not :  nay,  what  has  been  uttered,  do  not  wish  so  much  as 
to  remember  for  no  good. 

QEd.  This  can  not  be,  that  I  having  obtained  such  a  clew 
as  this,  shall  not  elucidate  my  descent. 

Jo.  By  the  gods  I  beg  thee,  do  not,  if  at  least  thou  care 
for  thine  own  life,  investigate  this  :  'tis  enough  that  I  be  ill 
at  ease. 

(Ed.  Courage  ;  for  never,  not  even  were  I  proved  by  three 
descents  a  trebly  servile  slave,  Avilt  thou  be  exposed  as  base. 

Jo.  Yet  obey  me,  I  conjure  thee  :  do  not  this. 

(Ed.   I  could  not  obey  thee  in  not  clearly  sifting  this  out. 

Jo.  And  yet  with  kind  intentions  at  least  I  advise  thee  for 
the  best. 

(Ed.  Why  now  it  is  this  very  best  that  long  since  ag- 
grieves me. 

Jo.  Miserable  man,  I  would  thou  mightest  never  know 
who  thou  art  ! 

(Ed.  Will  some  one  go  and  bring  hither  to  me  the  herds- 
man ?     But  for  her,  leave  her  to  enjoy  her  noble  lineage. 

Jo.  Woe,  woe,  unhappy  man  !  for  this  only  have  I  to  say 
to  thee,  but  other  word  hereafter — none. 

Ch.  For  what  possible  cause  can  the  queen  be  gone,  O 
(Edipus,  having  rushed  away  under  the  impulse  of  a  Avild 
anguish  ?  I  dread  lest  from  this  very  silence  there  burst  forth 
mischief. 

(Ed.  Burst  forth  whatever  will  :  but  I  shall  choose  to  dis- 
cover my  origin,  even  if  it  be  humble.  But  she  perhaps, 
since  for  a  Avoman  she  has  a  high  spirit,  is  scandalized  at  this 
my  meanness  of  extraction.  But  I,  ranking  myself  the  child 
of  that  Chance  which  gives  me  her  blessing,  shall  not  feel 
dishonored.  For  of  her,  as  of  a  mother,  was  I  born,^  and 
the  congenial  months  ordained  me  humble  and  exalted.  But 
being  born  such,  I  could  never  turn  out  to  be  another,  that 
I  should  not  search  out  my  pedigree. 

1  Hermann  understands  by  avyyevsls-  jxilvss-,  menses  qui  mecum 
fnerunt,  i.e.,  viiae  mese.  The  translation  above  given  is  suscepti- 
ble of  the  same  meaning. 


io86-rii4.]  CEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  53 

Chorus.^  If  I  am  indeed  a  prophet,  and  knowing  in  my 
mind,  thou,  O  Cithieron,  I  swear  by  Olympus,  shalt  not,  by 
to-morrow's  full  moon,  be  without  experience  of  our  extol- 
ling thee  at  least  as  both  of  one  country  with  OEdipus,  and  as 
his  nurse,  and  as  his  mother,  nor  of  being  visited  by  us  in 
choric  dances,  as  performing  acceptable  service  to  my  princes. 
But  O  that  this,  O  Healer  Apollo,  might  be  agreeable  to 
thee.  Who,  O  son,  what  daughter'^  of  the  immortals,  I  won- 
der, was  thy  mother,  visited  haply  as  a  paramour  by  moun- 
tain-ranging Pan,  or,  since  'tis  thou,  by  Apollo  ?  for  to  him 
the  champaign  downs  are  all  endeared  :  or  did  the  reigning 
prince  of  Cyllene,  or  the  Bacchanalian  god,  whose  home  is 
on  the  topmost  hills,  receive  thee  a  foundling  from  some  one 
of  the  Heliconian  nymphs,  with  whom  he  is  oftenest  frolick- 
ing. 

CEd.  If  I  too  have  any  right  to  conjecture,  old  man,  who 
have  never  yet  had  converse  with  him,  methinks  I  see  that 
very  herdsman,  whom  all  this  while  we  are  seeking.  For  in 
his  extreme  old  age  he  corresponds  as  the  contemporary  of 
this  man  here  ;  and  besides,  I  recognize  his  conductors  as  my 
own  domestics.     But  in  acquaintance  with  him  thou  very 

1  The  chorus  here  changes  its  tone  from  that  of  the  preced- 
ing ode  very  suddenly,  and  more  for  the  advantage  of  the 
reader  (who  thereby  gains  a  beautiful  snatch  of  a  Greek  alle- 
gro) than  of  its  own  character  for  consistency.  Still  these 
fond  ancestral  reveries  in  honor  of  a  patriot  king  awaken  in  us 
the  sense  of  contrast  by  touches  almost  Miltonic:  themselves 
a  fairy  dream,  they  shape  us  out  a  fearful  reality,  "which  sub- 
stance may  be  called,  yet  shadow  seems,"  and,  like  the  funeral 
oration  of  Pericles,  and  ever  linked  and  haunted  with  an  op- 
posing spirit,  a  mysterious  double  of  what  meets  the  ear. 

2  Hermann's  alteration  of  the  punctuation  here  has  restored 
evyar-rrp  to  her  rightful  inheritance,  by  omitting  the  note  of  in- 
terrogation after  naKpauovwv.  If  his  note  leave  any  thing  un- 
explained in  full,  it  is  the  force  of  ae  ye,  which  probably  infers 
Apollo,  father  of  CEdipus,  because  the  latter  was  so  apt  in  solv- 
ing hard  sayings.  Tr. — The  passage  is  still  unsatisfactory; 
and  Wunder  condemns  both  rts"  evyarnp  and  o-e  yk  as  corrupt. 
Perhaps  we  might  read  Mavds-  dpeacn^aTa  yrou  (or  ^ardo  with  Wun- 
der).      Upocnrs'XaaeETa'    eirz   ae    TtT   Ovyarrip    Ao^iov,  i.e.,    Uai'dr   eXtc 

Aofio'K     On  the  omission  of  the  first  sits,  cf.  ^sch.  Ag.  1403, 
and  above  517,  XoyoKriv  dr  epyoiaiv.     B. 


54  CEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  [1115-1141. 

possibly  mayest  have  the  advantage  of  uie,  from  having  seen 
the  herdsman  before. 

Ch,  Why  yes,  be  sure  I  do  ;  for  I  have  known  liim  since 
he  belonged  to  Laius,  trusty  in  his  degree  of  grazier,  if  ever 
another  were. 

(Ed.  Thee  first  I  interrogate,  the  Corinthian  stranger,  is 
this  the  man  thou  meanest  ? 

Mes.   This  very  man  whom  thou  seest. 

CEb.  Ho,  thou  old  man,  look  hither  tOAvard  me,  and 
answer  to  all  that  I  shall  ask  thee.  Wert  thou  ever  in 
Laius'  service? 

Servant.  I  was  ;^  a  slave,  not  purchased,  but  reared  in 
his  house. 

(Ed.  Concerned  in  what  avocation,  or  manner  of  life  ? 

Ser.  For  the  best  part  of  my  life  I  was  in  attendance  on 
flocks. 

CEb.  In  what  places  principally  a  resident? 

Ser.  It  would  be  Citha?ron,  and  it  would  be  the  adjacent 
districts. 

CEd.  Well,  then,  knowest  thou  this  man,  having  made 
acquaintance  with  him  any  Avliere  in  these  parts? 

Ser.  As  doing  what  thing?  of  what  manner  of  man  even 
art  thou  speaking  ? 

CEd.  This  man,  who  is  before  thee  :  hast  thou  ever  before 
now  had  dealings  with  him? 

Ser.  Not  at  least  that  I  could  readily  affirm  it  from  recol- 
lection. 

Mes.  And  no  wonder  either,  my  lord  :  but  I  will  distinctly 
remind  him  of  forgotten  times  ;  for  I  am  sure  he  knows  when 
in  the  region  of  Cithteron,  he  being  with  two  flocks,  I  with 
one,  I  was  the  neighbor  of  this  very  man  from  spring  to  early 
autumn,  three  entire  periods  of  six  months  each.  And  when 
now  it  was  winter,  I  used  on  my  part  to  drive  my  charge 
into  sheepcotes,  and  he  to  the  pens  of  Laius.  Say  I  any  of 
these  things  or  say  I  it  was  not  as  was  done  ? 

Ser.  Thou  speakest  the  truth,  though  in  sooth  from  a 
distant  time. 

^  Hermann  reading  T]  here,  says,  "  et  hie  quidem  aperta  est 
aoristi  siguificatio  neque  id  eram  quisquam,  sed/wi  vertit.  See 
note  on  v.  793. 


1142-1155.]  CEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  55 

Mes.  Come,  now  tell  me  ;  rememberest  thou  to  have  given 
me  any  child  at  that  time,  that  I  might  rear  it  as  a  nursling 
to  myself? 

Ser.  But  what  means  this  ?  wherefore  inquirest  thou  in 
these  words  ? 

jMes.  This,  my  comrade,  is  that  very  one  who  was  then 
an  infant. 

See.  Will  not  perdition  seize  thee?  wilt  not  hold  thy 
peace  ? 

(Ed.  Hold,  old  man  !  chastise  not  this  man,  since  thine 
own  words  have  more  need  of  a  chastiser  than  his. 

Ser.  But  in  what,  my  most  gracious  liege,  am  I  in  fault  ? 

CEd.  In  not  declaring  the  child  of  whom  this  man  asks 
thee. 

Ser.  Because  he  speaks  knowing  nothing,  but  labors  in 
vain. 

QLd.  Thou  indeed  Avilt  not  speak  as  a  favor,  but  to  thy 
cost  thou  shalt  speak. ^ 

Ser.  Do  not,  I  pray,  for  the  love  of  the  gods,  ill  use  me, 
an  old  man. 

Q^D.  Will  not  some  one  with  all  speed  tie  this  fellow's 
hands  behind  him  ? 

Ser.  Wretched  man,  for  what  purpose  ?  what  wouldst  thou 
know  more  ? 

1  The  altercation  with  Creon,  and  this  scene  with  the  shep- 
herds, from  the  snarling  repartee  which  runs  through  them, 
are  supposed  by  Twining  to  be  among  the  parts  of  our  poet 
which  gave  occasion  to  the  ridiculous  idea  of  a  comic  writer 
in  Diogenes  Laertius  (4.  20.)  that  Sophocles  had  a  dog  to  help 
him  write  tragedies;  kvmv  ng  e^vkzi  cvunoieXv  M-oXomKog.  That 
eminent  translator  seems  to  forget  that  anger  levels  most  men, 
and  that  of  kings  especially  "the  wrath  is  great;"  he  forgets 
that  every  passage,  he  has  produced /ro?9t  Sopliodes  to  this  point, 
is  the  expi-ession  of  angry  feeling ;  he  forgets  the  simplicity 
of  the  times  of  which  he  is  writing.  But  when  he  quotes 
Longinus,  to  prove  that  in  these  places  the  spirit  of  Sophocles 

ajSivvvrai   a\6YM<;^  kuI  ninTeL   drvx^arara'  putting   aside   that  aS  to 

Longinus's  meaning  he  begs  the  question,  let  him  show  that 
Louginus  ever  wrote  naturally  for  ten  lines  together,  ere  he 
takes  that  really  great  critic's  dictum  on  the  expression  of. 
heated  feelings. 


56  CEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  [1156-1177. 

(Ed.  Gavest  tliou  to  this  man  the  boy  of  whom  he  ques- 
tions thee  ? 

Ser.  I  did ;  but  O  that  I  liad  died  on  that  day. 

Q^D.  Nay,  to  this  thou  wilt  come,  at  least  if  thou  speak 
not  the  truth. 

Ser.  Much  more  certain  is  my  destruction,  if  I  shall 
speak. 

(Ed.  This  fellow,  it  seems,  is  driving  at  delay. 

Ser.  Not  I,  truly ;  but  I  said  long  ago  that  I  had  given 
the  boy. 

(Ed.  Whence  having  got  him  ?  of  thine  own  house  or  of 
any  other? 

Ser.  Surely  I  gave  not  my  own  away,  but  I  received  him 
from  some  one. 

OEd.  From  whom  among  these  citizens,  and  from  a  house 
of  what  degree  ? 

Ser.  Do  not  for  the  gods'  sake,  do  not,  my  sovereign,  in- 
quire further. 

OEd.  Thou  diest,  if  I  shall  ask  thee  this  again. 

Ser.  It  was  then  one  of  Lams'  offspring. 

CEd.  a  slave,  or  one  by  birth  of  kin  to  him  ? 

Ser.  Woe  is  me  !  I  am  surely  on  the  verge  of  speaking 
the  very  horror. 

(Ed.  And  I  surely  of  hearing  :  yet  it  must  be  heard. 

Ser.  Why  then,  it  was  said  to  be  actually  his  own  child  ; 
but  the  lady  within  could  best  inform  thee  how  this  stands. 

CEd.  AVhy,  is  she  the  donor  of  this  child  to  thee  ? 

Ser.  Even  so,  sire. 

OEd.  For  what  purpose  ? 

Ser.  That  I  might  make  away  with  him. 

(Ed.  The  own  mother,  hard-hearted?^ 

Ser.  In  horror,  however,  of  evil  prophecies. 

(Ed.  Of  what  import  ? 

Ser.  There  was  a  story,  that  he  should  be  his  parents' 
murderer. 

Q^D.   How  earnest  thou  then  to  resign  him  to  this  elder  ? 

1  Erfurdt  has  a  note  here  from  Eubnkeu's  Preface  to  Schel- 
ler's  Lexicon,  which  seems  uncalled  for.  Thlixi  means  ''to  have 
the  heart "  to  do  any  thing:  and  rXfj/iwi'  here  takes  this  signifi- 
cation much  better,  surely,  than  that  of  perdita  or  miser. 


II78-I22I.]  CEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  57 

See.  Pitying  it,  my  liege,  as  supposing  that  lie  would 
carry  him  away  to  another  land,  whence  he  himself  was  : 
but  he  reserved  him  for  the  direst  miseries  :  for  if  thou  art 
he  whom  this  man  declares  thee  to  be,  know  thou  art  born 
to  a  cursed  destiny. 

CEt>.  Alas  !  alas  !  All  the  predictions  turn  out  true.^  O 
light,  may  I  look  on  thee  now  for  the  last  time  :  I,  that  have 
been  shown  the  son  of  those  of  whom  I  shoidd  not  have 
been,  holding  commerce  with  those  with  whom  it  became  me 
not,  and  having  killed  whom  it  was  my  duty  never. 

Chorus.  O  generations  of  mortals,  how  as  nothing  do  I 
reckon  you  in  this  life  !  For  where,  where  is  the  man  that 
achieves  more  of  happiness,^  than  barely  so  much  as  to  fancy 
he  has  it,  and  so  fancying  to  fall  away  from  it  ?  Even''  thine 
example  having  before  me,  tliy  destiny,  even  thine,  O  hap- 
less (Edipus,  I  term,*  nothing  of  mortal  fortunes  happy  :  thou 
who  with  excess  of  fortune  aimed  at  and  achieved  the  prize 
of  all-blissful  prosperity,  O  Jove  !  having  done  to  death  the 
maiden  prophetess  with  forked  talons,  nay,  a  bulwark  against 
slaughters  didst  thou  stand  up  to  my  country,  whence  also 
thou  art  titled  my  sovereign,  and  hast  been  supremely  digni- 
fied with  honor,  lording  it  in  Thebes  the  mighty.  But  now 
as  I  hear,  who  is  more  miserable?  who  in  reverse  of  state  is 
more  familiar  with  cruel  griefs  and  troubles  ?  Alas  !  Oh 
glorious  majesty  of  Oedipus,  to  whom  one  and  the  same 
ample  haven  was  enough  for  son  and  father  as  a  bridegroom 
to  run  into:  how  ever,  how  ever  were  thy  father's  furrows 
enabled  to  endure  thee  in  silence  so  long,  unfortunate?  Time 
the  all  seeing  detected  thee  reluctant;  justice  long  since 
sentences  the  marriageless  marriage,  begetting  and  begotten. 
Oh  !  son  of  Laius,  would,  would  that  I  had  never  seen  thee. 
For  I  mourn  with  passing  sorrow  from  loudly-plaintive  lips. 
Yet  to  tell  the  truth,  by  the  bounty  have  I  drawn  my  breath 
again,  and  closed  mine  eyes  in  repose. 

1  See  Wunder  on  v.  922.    B. 

2  Grotius  elegantly  translates  : 

"  Hsec  est  sola  beatitas  Humano  generi  data 
Quam  quis  dum  putat  accipit,  Aramittitque  putando."  B. 

3  Wander  more  rightly  reads  with  Camerarius  rdv  aov  rot, 
"  holding  thy  fortunes,  yea  thine,  as  an  example."     B. 

4  oUiva  is  against  the  meter,  and  altered  by  Hermann.     B. 


Sa  CEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  [1222-1262. 

MESSENGER  Extraordinary.  O  ve,  ever  respected  the 
most  highly  of  this  land,  what  deeds  shall  ye  hear,  what 
deeds  shall  ye  witness,  how  heavy  a  grief  shall  ye  have  to 
bear,  if  from  a  feeling  of  kindred  ye  are  yet  concerned  for 
the  house  of  Labdacus?  For,  I  believe,  neither  Ister  nor 
Phasis,  could  lave  with  water  of  purification  this  roof  before 
you  of  all  which  it  conceals  :  while  other  ills  will  forthwith 
show  themselves  to  the  light,  ills  voluntary,  and  not  unin- 
tended. But  of  mischiefs,  those  are  the  most  afilicting  which 
show  themselves  self-incurred. 

Ch.  Xay,  even  what  we  knew  before  lacks  naught  of  being 
deeply  deplorable  :  but  Avhat  hast  thou  to  tell  in  addition  to 
those? 

M.  E.  The  speediest  of  tales  both  to  tell  and  to  hear  :  the 
most  noble  Jocasta  is  no  more. 

Ch.  Most  unhappy  woman  !     By  what  earthly  means  ? 

M.  E.  Herself  by  her  own  hand.  But  of  the  action  the 
most  painful  part  is  spared  us,  since  the  eye-witness  is  not 
ours  ;  but  yet,  as  far  at  least  as  the  memory  of  them  resides 
in  me,  thou  shalt  hear  the  sufferings  of  that  lost  princess. 
For  Avhen,  instinct  with  fury,  she  passed  by  within  the  por- 
tal, she  M'ent  straight  to  her  bridal  bed,  tearing  her  hair 
with  both  her  hands  ;  and  having,  as  soon  as  she  was  within, 
violently  closed  the  doors  on  the  inside,  she  cries  on  Laius, 
now  long  since  dead,  bearing  in  memory  that  ancient  issue 
by  whose  hands  he  was  himself  to  die,  and  leave  the  mother 
to  his  own,  a  procreatress  of  wretched  children.  But  she 
mourned  over  the  couch  where  she  had  become,  unfortunate, 
the  mother  of  a  double  progeny,  husbands  by  husband, 
children  by  children.  And  how  after  this  she  perished  I 
have  no  further  knowledge ;  for  Q^dipus  with  outcries  broke 
in,  for  whom  it  was  impossible  for  us  to  witness  her  fate  to 
its  end  ;  but  we  turned  our  eyes  on  him  roving  round.  For 
he  begins  wildly  rushing,  beseeching  us  to  furnish  him  Avith 
a  weapon,  and  tell  him  where  to  reach  "the  wife  yet  no 
wife,  his  motber  with  her  common  womb  for  himself  and  his 
children."  To  him  in  his  frenzy  some  unearthly  poAver  dis- 
covers this,  for  it  was  no  one  of  us  men  who  were  standing 
by  :  but  shouting  fearfully,  as  with,  some  guide  to  lead  him, 
he  sprung  in  against  the  double  doors,  and  from  their  very 
deepest  fastening  he  wrenched  the  hollow  staples,  and  falls 


1263-1287.]  CEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  59 

in  upon  the  apartment ;  where  we  then  looked  in  upon  his 
wife  suspended,  entangled  in  twisted  nooses.  But  he,  when 
he  sees  her,  with  horrible  bellowings,  poor  wretch  !  loosens 
the  hanging  knot ;  but  when  the  hapless  was  laid  on  the 
ground,  the  sequel  was  awful  to  behold  :  for  having  torn  oft" 
from  her  the  golden-embossed  clasps^  of  her  vestments,  where- 
with she  used  to  adorn  herself,  he  lifted  them  and  smote  the 
balls  of  his  own  eyes,  uttering  words  of  this  sort,  ^'that 
'twas  because  they  had  discerned  for  him  neither  what 
mischiefs  he  was  suffering,  nor  what  he  was  doing  ;  but 
darkly  should  they  see,  for  the  time  to  come,  those  whom 
he  ought  never  to  have  seen,  nor  should  they  recognize  those 
whom  he  so  longed  to  recognize."  Venting  curses  such  as 
these  full  often,  and  not  once  only^  did  he  Avound  them, 
forcing  up  his  eyelids.  And  at  once  the  bloody  pupils  be- 
dewed his  cheeks,  nor  emitted  mere  humid  drops  of  gore, 
but  all  at  once,  a  shower  of  sable  blood-clot  hail  was  shed.^ 
These  are  miseries  that  broke  forth  of  two,  not  of  him  alone, 
but  the  consorted  miseries  of  a  husband  and  a  Avife.  For 
their  happiness  of  a  long  date  before,  'twas  hitherto  de- 
serving of  the  name  ;  but  now,  on  this  very  day,  lamenta- 
tion, ruin,  death,  dishonor  of  whatsoever  ill  whatever  name 
there  be,  not  one  is  wanting. 

Ch.  But  in  what  respite  from  ill  is  the  sufferer  now  ? 

M.  E.  He  is  shouting  for  some  one  to  open  the  barriers, 

^  Perhaps  this  was  an  attempt  of  the  poet  to  reconcile  his 
fair-armed  country-woman  to  long  sleeves,  they  having  lost 
the  privilege  of  the  irepovm  by  their  inhuman  conduct  toward 
the  sole  survivor  of  the  disastrous  iEginetan  expedition.  See 
Herod,  v.  87 ;  on  which  place  Larcher  quotes  an  old  scholiast, 
to  prove  that  the  Laceda3monians  adopted  this  dress  with  clasps 
in  order  to  make  their  women  masculine,  and  the  Athenians  the 
Ionian  with  a  view  to  the  opposite  effect.  Asthe  Argive  ladies 
wore  large  clasps  on  this  same  event  taking  place,  'tis  to  be 
hoped  they  did  not  worship  Juno  in  vain. 

2  Hermann  joins  the  words  TvoWaKis-  re  kovk  aTra^  with  jwv/uj'wi', 
and  says  of  Elmsley's  punctuation  that  it  gives  a  meaning 
"justo  credelius."  The  imperfect 'ipao-o-e,  howeved,  favors  the 
old  way  of  rendering.     Potter  translates  as  Hermann. 

^  The  two  following  verses  are  bracketed  by  Dindorf,  and 
considered  corrupt  by  Wunder.     B. 


6o  CEDIPUS  TYRAXNUS.  [1288-1330. 

and  expose  to  all  the  race  of  Cadmus  the  slayer  of  his  father, 
his  mother's — uttering  unlioly  things,  things  not  for  me  to 
speak  ;  purposing  seemingly  to  make  himself  an  outcast  from 
the  land,  nor  any  longer  to  tarry  in  his  home  accursed,  as 
he  cursed  himself.  Yet  still  he  wants  strength  at  least,  and 
some  one  for  his  guide  ;  since  his  disease  is  greater  than  he 
can  bear.  Nay,  he  Avill  show  thee  so  himself.  For  these 
fastenings  of  the  gates  are  being  opened,  and  speedily  shalt 
thou  behold  a  spectacle  of  such  a  sort  as  even  an  enemy  must 
pity- 

Ch.  Oh,  disaster  fearful  to  mankind  to  behold  !  Oh  most 
fearful  of  all  that  I  have  ever  yet  encountered  !  What  frenzy, 
sad  sufferer,  beset  thee  ?  \Vhat  demon  is  it  that,  with 
mightier  than  the  mightiest  bound,  hath  sprung  on  thine 
unblest  fate  ?  Woe,  woe,  unfortunate  I  But  I  can  not  so 
much  as  look  on  thee,  anxious  as  I  am  to  question  much, 
much  to  learn,  and  much  to  see,  such  shuddering  dost  thou 
cause  me. 

CEd.  Oh,  Oh,  Oh,  Oh,  alas,  alas,  wretch  that  I  am ! 
whither  on  earth  am  I,  miserable,  carried  ?  Where  is  flitting 
this  voice  which  I  hear  thus  hurriedly?  Oh,  fate,  whither 
hast  thou  leaped  ? 

Ch.  To  horror,  not  fit  for  hearing,  nor  for  sight. 

GEd.  O  cloud  of  my  darkness,  abominable,  falling  upon 
me  unspeakable,  in  that  thou  art  alike  unconquerable,  and 
all-prosperous  to  my  bane.  Ah  me  !  Ah  me  !  again  and 
again.  Ah  me  !  How  hath  sunk  deep  within  me  hand  in 
hand  at  once  the  maddening  sting  of  these  goads,  and  the 
memory  of  my  woes  ! 

Ch,  And  surely  it  is  no  Avonder,  in  afflictions  great  as 
these,  that  thou  hast  a  double  sorrow,  and  bearest  double 
ills. 

(Ed.  O  my  friend,  thou  as  my  adherent  art  still  constant, 
for  still  dost  thou  submit  to  care  for  me  the  blind.  Alas  ! 
alas  !  for  thou  escapest  me  not,  but  well  do  I  know  thee, 
darkened  though  I  be,  at  least  thy  voice. 

Ch.  O  thou  of  dreadful  deeds,  how  hadst  thou  the  heart 
thus  to  mangle  thine  eyes  ?  What  higher  power  prompted 
thee  to  it  ? 

CEd.  Apollo  was  he,  Apollo,  O  my  friends,  that  brought 
to  pass  these  my,  my  wretched  sufferings.     But  no  one  wil- 


1331-1377.]  CEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  6r 

fully  pierced  them,  but  hapless  I.  For  what  need  had  I  of 
sight,  I,  to  whom  when  seeing  there  was  naught  sweet  to 
look  on  ? 

Ch.  This  was  so,  even  as  thou  sayest, 

(FjT>.  What  then,  I  pray,  have  I,  object  of  sight,  of  love, 
of  accost,  that  I  could  hear  any  longer  with  pleasure,  my 
friends?  Bear  me  away  from  the  place  with  all  speed,  bear 
me  away,  my  friends,  the  monstrous  destruction,  the  most 
accursed,  and  most  god-detested  of  human  kind. 

Ch.  O  lamentable  alike  in  thy  feeling  and  thy  fate,  how 
have  I  wished  that  I  at  least  had  never  known  thee  ! 

GLb.  Perish  he,  whosoever  he  be,  that  took  me  from  the 
barbarous  chain  that  pastured  on  my  feet,  and  rescued  and 
preserved  me  from  a  violent  death  earning  a  thankless  re- 
turn ;  for  had  I  died  then,  I  had  not  been  so  great  a  sorrow 
to  my  friends  nor  self. 

Ch.  This  would  have  been  to  my  wish  also. 

CEd.  Ay,  then  I  had  not  come  the  slayer  of  my  father  at 
least,  nor  been  titled  by  mankind  the  bridegroom  of  those 
of  whom  I  sprung.  But  now  am  I  a  godless  being,  child  of 
unholy  parents,  allied  to  those  from  whom  I  wretched  drew 
my  birth.  But  if  there  be  in  kind  one  evil  among  evils 
paramount,  this  to  his  share  hath  OEdipus. 

Ch.  I  know  not  how  to  say  that  thou  hast  well  advised  ; 
for  thou  wert  better  to  live  no  longer  than  live  in  blindness. 

(Ed.  That  this  hath  not  been  best  done  thus,  tutor  me 
not,  nor  counsel  me  longer.  For  I  know  not  with  what 
manner  of  eyes  beholding,  I  could  have  looked  my  father 
in  the  face  when  I  went  down  to  Hades, ^  no,  nor  my  hapless 
mother,  to  both  of  whom  deeds  have  been  done  by  me  that 
hanging  is  too  good  for.  But  forsooth  the  sight  of  my  chil- 
dren was  to  be  coveted  by  me  to  see,  springing  forth  as  they 
sprung.  No,  to  my  eyes  never  :  nor  citadel,  nor  tower,  nor 
sacred  images  of  gods,  whereof  I  the  all-unhappy,  noblest  by 

1  The  ancients  believed  that  whatever  defects  or  injuries 
men  suffered  during  life,  they  carried  with  them  to  the  shades 
below.  Thus,  in  Virgil,  Mn.  vi.  450,  ^Eneas  meets  Dido  "re- 
cens  a  vulnere,"  and  495,  "  Deiphobum  vidit,  laceruni  crude- 
liter  era."    So  Clytgemuestra   says  in  Jilsch.  Eum.  103,  opa  St 

7r\r]ydT  rdaSe.      B. 


62  CEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  [137S-1406. 

birth  of  any  one  at  least  in  Thebes,  have  bereaved  my  own 
self,  myself  enjoining  all  to  thrust  oiit  the  impious  one,  the 
man  branded  of  heaven  as  polluted^  [and  proved  to  be]  of 
the  race  of  Laius,  could  I,  who  had  exposed  such  a  blot  in 
mine  own  person,  ever  look  on  these  with  steadfast  eyes? 
No,  never,  surely  !  Nay,  had  there  been  yet  means  of  stop- 
page of  the  fountain  of  hearing  through  my  ears,  1  would 
not  have  refrained  from  blocking  up  my  miserable  body,  that 
I  might  have  been  both  sightless  and  devoid  of  hearing:^  for 
to  have  one's  feelings  abiding  beyond  reach  of  one's  misfor- 
tunes were  sweet.  Alas,  Cithferon,  wherefore  harboredst  thou 
me?  wherefore  having  taken  me  in  didst  thou  not  forthwith 
kill  me,  that  I  had  never  shown  mankind  in  the  lineage  whence 
I  sprang?^  OPolybus  and  Corinth,  and  ancient  halls,  reputed 
my  ancestors',  what  a  goodly  outside  skin  of  scars  beneath 
have  ye  reared  me !  For  now  am  I  discovered  vile,  and  of 
the  vile.  O  ye  three  roads,  and  thou  concealed  dell,  and 
oaken  copse,  and  narrow  outlet  of  three  ways,  Avhich  drank 
mine  own  blood  from  my  father,  shed  by  mine  own  hands, 
do  ye  remember  me  how  that  I — what  deeds  having  done  to 
you,  then  came  hither,  and  again  what  deeds  I  perpetrated? 
O  bridals,  bridals,  ye  have  begotten  us,  and  having  begotten, 
again  ye  brought  to  light  the  selfsame  seed,  and  display 

^  Hermann's  punctuation  has  been  followed  here  in  joining 
Kai  ytvovs-  Tov  Aaiov  to  the  next  Hue.  Tk. — I  have  preferred 
following  Dindorf  and  Wunder.     B. 

2  "  Hie  etsi  iraperfeetum  recte  se  habet,  nf  essem  cxais  et  sur- 
dns,  tamen  etiam  aoristo  locus  est,  ut  f actus  essem  cfrcus  et  surdus, 
verbo  77  idem  quod  eyEv6f).j)v  significaute."  Herm.  Pref.  see  note 
on  V.  793. 

^  Hermann,  reading  >>,  observes  that  here,  if  any  where,  an 
aorist  might  be  thought  needful,  to  express  the  sense  ar  Hei^a 
liii-OT£  ivOev  iy£vv)]driv.  But  though  n  without  the  participle  would 
staud  for  iyewfienv,  with  it  >?  will  not,  because  ysyojr  implies 
time  present,  and  thus  »7  yey-'^'r  would  be  inide  natus  fnissem,  a 
proper  expression  of  one  once,  but  no  longer  alive:  dul  yeytJr 
then  standing  for  the  present,  vf  yey.o-  becomes  from  a  pluper- 
fect an  imperfect;  and  if  by  the  laws  of  the  lauo^nage  c6r  Set^o) 
evQev  eijxl  yeywT,  when  changed  by  a  person  speaking  of  a  past 
event,  would  have  required  wr  ecei^aivetv  nv  yzyw~,  then  is  the 
latter  form  correct  here.     See  note  on  v.  793. 


I407-I443-]  CEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  63 

fathers,  brothers,  sons,  blood  all  of  one  tribe,  brides,  wives, 
and  mothers,  and  all  the  deeds  that  are  most  infamous  among 
mankind.  But,  for  it  is  not  fitting  to  utter  what  neither  is 
it  fitting  to  do,  with  all  speed,  in  heaven's  name,  hide  me 
somewhere  far  away,  or  slay  me,  or  set  me  adrift  on  the  sea, 
where  never  again  ye  shall  behold  me.  Come,  deign  to 
touch  a  wretch  forlorn.  Be  prevailed  on,  fear  not ;  for  evils 
such  as  mine  no  mortal  but  I  is  liable  to  bear. 

Ch.  But  for  what  thou  requestest  at  an  apt  moment  comes 
Creon  here,  to  act  or  to  advise,  since  he  is  left  sole  protector 
of  the  realm  in  thy  room. 

(Eb.  Woe  is  me  !  In  what  words  then  shall  we  address 
him?  AVhat  trust  shall  there  in  reason  be  shown  to  me  by 
him  ?  For  in  the  former  transactions  have  I  been  discovered 
altogether  base  toward  him. 

Creon.  Kot  as  a  scoffer,  Gj^dipus,  have  I  come,  nor  to 
reproach  thee  with  any  of  the  former  wrongs.  But  do  ye, 
if  ye  no  longer  blush  before  the  race  of  man,  at  all  events 
respect  more  the  fire  of  the  royal  sun  that  feeds  all  things, 
than  to  exhibit  a  pollution  such  as  this  thus  uncovered, 
which  neither  earth,  nor  heaven-sent^  rain,  nor  light  will 
pin  up  with.  But  as  speedily  as  possible  convey  him  to  his 
home  ;  for  that  those  of  the  family  alone  should  see  and 
hear  the  miseries  of  a  relative,  is  what  piety  requires. 

QEd.  For  the  gods'  sake,  since  thou  hast  forced  me  from 
my  expectation  by  coming  the  noblest  of  men  as  thou  art,  to 
me  the  vilest,  concede  one  thing  to  me,  for  I  will  speak  for 
thy  interest  and  not  mine. 

Cr.  And  to  obtain  what  demand  art  thou  thus  urgent 
with  me  ? 

(Et>.  Cast  me  out  from  this  land  with  what  haste  thou 
may  est,  where  I  shall  be  found  by  no  earthly  being  to  be 
spoken  with. 

Cr.  I  had  done  it,  of  this  be  satisfied,  had  I  not  first  of  all 
been  anxious  to  learn  from  the  divinity  what  was  to  be  done. 

CEd.  But  surely  his  whole  prophetic  answer  openly  ordered 
to  put  to  death  the  parricide,  the  impious,  myself. 

Cr.  So  this  was  said  ;  but  still  in  the  emergency  wherein 
we  are  placed,  'twere  better  to  learn  what  is  to  be  done. 

1  ofi^pos  tpof.     So  oiag  xpaKaSog,  Eurip.  Helen.  2. — B. 


64  CEDIPUS  TYRANXUS.  [1444-1477. 

CEt).  Will  ye  then  thus  inquire  on  behalf  of  a  creature 
Utterly  fallen  ? 

Cr.  Yes  :  for  even  thou  surely^  mighest  now  give  credit 
to  the  god. 

CEd.  To  thee  then  do  I  solemnly  give  charge,  and  will 
exhort  thee  too  ;  of  her  within  the  house  make  such  sepul- 
ture as  thou  choosest,  for  duly  wilt  thou  perform  this  on  be- 
half of  thine  own  at  least.  ^  But  me,  never  let  this,  the  city  of 
my  fathers,  deign  to  admit  a  living  inhabitant ;  no,  suffer  me 
to  abide  in  the  mountains,  where  is  that  very  Cithteron  sur- 
named  mine,  which  both  my  father  and  mother  allotted  to  me 
yet  living  as  my  proper  tomb,  that  I  may  die  by  their  counsel, 
who  were  indeed  my  destroyers.  And  yet  this  much  at  least 
I  know,  that  neither  disease  nor  any  other  chance  shall  be 
my  downfall ;  for  never  had  I  been  saved  in  the  hour  of  death, 
unless  for  some  dreadful  evil.  But  for  my  fate,  let  it  go  which 
way  soever  it  will :  but  for  my  children,  on  the  males  I  would 
not,  Creon,  thou  shouldest  concern  thyself  more ;  they  are 
men,  so  that  they  never  can  feel  a  scarcity  of  sustenance 
wherever  they  shall  chance  to  be ;  but  on  my  hapless  and 
pitiable  girls,  before  whom  was  never  my  table  laid  without 
food  wanting  my  own  presence,  but  of  all  that  I  touched  were 
they  two  ever  the  partakers  :  for  whom  do  thou  interest  thee 
for  my  sake  ;  and  above  all,  suffer  me  to  feel  them  with  mine 
hands,  and  pour  a  last  lament  over  their  misfortunes.  Do 
it,  O  prince,  do  it,  O  thou  thyself  of  pure  lineage  and  noble. 
Surely  if  I  touched  them  with  these  hands,  I  sliould  fancy  I 
held  them,  even  as  when  I  had  my  sight.  What  shall  I  say? 
Tell  me,  in  the  name  of  the  gods,  do  I  not  surely  hear  my 
darlings  crying  ?  And  has  Creon  in  compassion  sent  me  the 
best  beloved  of  my  children  ?    Am  I  right  ? 

Cr.  Thou  art  right ;  for  I  am  he  that  supplied  thee  with 
these  babes,  having  known  the  yet  lively  delight  which  from 
old  time  possessed  thee  in  them. 

^  rav^  scil.  Toi  at'.  See  V.  1446  (ed.  Herm.)  and  Eurip,  Med. 
V.  1011.     Porson. 

2  Jocasta  being  his  sister.  The  confidence  reposed  by  CEdipus 
in  one  who  was  afterward  to  appear  as  the  infringer  of  these 
most  sacred  rights,  and  that  toward  QCdipus's  son  and  liis  own 
nephew,  is  introduced  with  the  poet's  usual  refinement  of  art. 


147^1512.]  CEDIPUS  TYR ANNUS.  65 

CEd.  Then  all  happiness  to  thee,  and  for  this  their  coming 
may  thy  tutelary  power  protect  thee  better  than  me.  My 
children,  Avhere  can  ye  be  ?  draw  near  hither,  come  to  these 
my  fraternal  hands,  which  have  thus  served  the  once  bright 
eyes  of  the  author  of  your  being  for  you  to  see  ;  of  me,  my 
children,  who  without  sight,  without  question  of  it,  was 
proved  your  father  by  that  source  from  Avhence  myself  had 
been  raised.  And  for  you  I  weep,  for  I  have  no  power  to 
behold  you,  in  imagining  the  rest  of  your  bitter  life,  with 
what  treatment  at  men's  hands  ye  are  doomed  to  live  it  out. 
For  to  Avhat  social  meetings  of  the  citizens  will  ye  come  ? 
nay,  to  what  festivals,  whence  ye  will  not  betake  yourselves 
home  all  in  tears  in  place  of  enjoyment  from  the  scene.  ^  But 
when  at  length  ye  shall  have  come  to  marriageable  years, 
who  will  be  he  ?  who  will  rashly  risk,  my  children,  to  incur 
such  scandals  as  will  be  destruction  to  those  at  once  my 
parents  and  yours  ?  For  what  horror  is  wanting  ?  your  father 
murdered  his  father ;  committed  incest  with  that  mother 
who.'^e  seed  he  was  himself,  and  from  the  self-same  source 
whence  he  was  born,  begat  himself  you.  In  such  sort  will 
ye  be  reviled  ;  and  then  who  will  espouse  you.  There  is  not 
a  man,  my  children  ;  but  too  plainly  is  it  your  destiny  to  pine 
to  death  barren  and  unwedded.  But  since,  O  son  of  Menoeceus, 
thou  art  left  sole  father  to  these  twain,  for  we  their  natural 
parents  are  both  fallen  victims  to  destruction,  do  not  thou 
look  on  and  see  them,  thy  kindred,  beggars,  husbandless, 
wanderers,  nor  make  them  sharers  in  my  woes ;  but  pity 
them,  seeing  them  as  thou  dost  at  their  tender  years  destitute 
of  every  thing,  except  as  far  as  thy  part  goes.  Accord  this, 
0  noble  sir,  pledging  me  with  thine  hand.  But  to  you,  my 
children,  if  ye  had  already  understanding,  I  would  have 
given  much  advice  ;  but  now^  pray  this  on  my  behalf,  that  I 

^  If  Muso^rave's  references  to  ^schylus's  Choephorse,  vv.  450 
and  719  (ed.  Blom.)  be  correct,  and  they  are  approved  by  Abre- 
schius  and  Blomfield,  tJie  passage  can  not  stand  as  the  former 
edition,  followiuEc  Brunck,  has  it,  viz.,  "from  whence  ye  will 
not  return  lamented  rather  than  the  spectacle  exhibited  ;"  be- 
cause K£K\a^^nkvai  in  neither  of  those  passages  has  a  passive  sense, 
and  is  by  Blomfield  translated  lachrymis  perfusus. 

2  £i\£o-0£  can  not,  I  think,  be  taken  passively,  and  I  have 


66  CEDIPUS  TYRAXXUS.  [15 13-1528. 

may  ever  live  where  it  is  for  me  to  .live,  and  may  ye  meet 
with  a  better  life  than  that  of  the  father  who  begot  you. 

Cr.  Enough  of  tears  hast  thou  shed,  go  now  within 
doors. 

CEd.  I  must  needs  obey,  though  it  be  no  pleasing  thing. 

Cr.  Why,  all  things  are  becoming  in  their  season. 

(Ed.  Know  you  then  on  what  conditions  I  will  go  ? 

Cr.  Thou  shalt  tell  me,  and  hearing  I  shall  then  know. 

(Ed.  That  thou  wilt  send  me  into  exile  from  this  land. 

Cr.  Thou  askest  me  what  is  the  gods'  to  give. 

(Ed.  But  to  the  gods  at  least  I  come  most  odious. 

Cr.  "Wherefore,  be  sure  thou  shalt  be  quickly  grati- 
fied. 

(Ed.  Sayest  thou  so,  then  ? 

Cr.  Yes,  for  what  I  mean  not  I  am  not  wont  idly  to 
say. 

(Ed.   Away  Avith  me  then  from  this  spot  now. 

('R.   Proceed  then,  and  let  go  thy  children. 

(Ed.  By  no  means  take  these  at  least  from  me. 

Cr.  Seek  not  to  have  thy  way  in  every  thing,  for  that 
wherein  thou  hadst  thv  will  conduced  not  to  thy  welfare  in 
life. 

Chorus.  O  inhabitants  of  Thebes  my  country,  behold, 
this  (Edipus,  who  solved  the  famous  enigma,  and  was  the 
most  exalted  of  mankind,  wlio,  looking  with  no  envious 
eye^  upon  the  enviable  fortunes  of  the  citizens,  into  how  vast 
a  stormy  sea  of  tremendous  misery  he  hath  come  !  Then 
mortal  as  thou  art,  looking  out  for  a  sight  of  that  day,  the 

therefore  followed  Dindorf,  whose  emendation  is  also  adopted 
by  Wunder.  lu  Kaipd-  there  is,  I  think,  a  double  meaning,  both 
of  the  fated  spot  where  OEdipus  should  dwell  or  die,  and  a  ref- 
erence to  its  ordinary  meaning,  as  less  shocking  to  the  hearers. 
— B. 

^  Erfurdt  has  a  long  and  excellent  note  on  the  word  i-m^'Xeirw:'^ 
•which  he  shows  to  answer  exactly  the  Latin  "  iuvidens."  Her- 
mann's reading  has  been  followed  for  the  rest.— Te.  I  have 
given  the  best  sense  to  this  passage  in  my  power,  but  I  still 
think  ^>?Xw  Kal  rvxais-  a  harsh  eudyadis  for  C»?Awrarr  rx^xats-,  and 
that  s''?Xm  would  be  mure  naturally  joined  with  e-i^Xe-jojv. 
Should  we  read — ttoXitcov  rar  TVXa~  tm/SXiTrwi'  ? — B. 


1529-1530-]  GEDIPUS  TYRANNUS.  67 

last,^  call  no  man  happy,  ere  lie  shall  have  crossed  the  boun- 
dary of  life,  the  sufferer  of  nought  painful. 

1  "The  first  dark  day  of  nothingness, 
The  last  day  of  danger  and  distress," 
says  Lord  Byron,  and  so  said  (in  part,  at  least)  Solon  before 
him.  But  Aristotle,  who  was  not  a  man  to  adopt  hypothesis 
for  fact,  whether  supported  by  poet  or  philosopher,  disputing 
the  first  axiom  in  toto,  brings  the  second  into  considerable 
doubt.— Eth.  1. 


Shelf. 


mCTRA.' 


Orestes,  in  company  with  his  tutor  and  Pylades.  comes  to  Ar- 
gos,  and,  liaving  deceived  ^Egisthus  and  Clytemnestra  with 
the  report  that  he  had  been  killed  by  fiilling  from  his  chariot 
in  the  Olympic  games,  he  reveals  his  being  yet  alive  to  his 
sister,  who  had  bewailed  him  as  dead,  and  slays  the  two 
murderers,  while  vainly  exulting  in  his  own  supposed 
end.— B. 


DEAMATIS  PEESOX^. 


Attendant. 
Okestes. 
Electka. 
Chorus. 


Chrysothemis. 
Clytemxestra. 
^gisthus. 


Attendant.  O  son  of  Agamemnon,  who  once  commanded 
the  army  at  Troy,-  now  may  est  thou  here  present  behold 
those  things  for  which  thou  wert  ever  eagerly  longing ;  for 
this  is  the  ancient  Argos,^  which  thou  didst  desire,  the  grove 

1  This  play  was  translated  into  Latin  by  Attilius.  Cic.  de 
Fin.  I.  c.  ii.  |  5.  ".4  quibns  tantum  dissenth,  nt,  qiium  Sophocles 
vel  opi'nne  scripserit  Electrnm,  tamen  male  conversam  Attilii  legen- 
dam  pntem :  de  quo  Licinius,  ferreiim  scriptorem ;  verum,  opinor, 
scriptorem  tamen,  ut  legendus  dt."  See  Beutley  on  Tus.  Quiest. 
p.  56.     Hermann. 

2  Euripides  twitted  Sophocles  with  this  line  as  superfluous, 
who  retorted  with  the  same  objection  on  the  two  first  lines  of 
the  Phcenissffi.— Sch.  ad  Phceu.  Hermann  thinks  either  exor- 
dium would  be  the  worse  for  the  omission. 

^  Argos  is  here  applied  to  the  country  by  Brunck;  but  ac- 
cording to  the  Museum  Criticum,  No.  I.,  "  The  cities  of  Argos 
\  68  ) 


5-23]  ELECTRA.  69 

of  the  frenzy-stricken  daughter  of  Inachus,^  and  this,  Ores- 
tes, the  Lycsean  forum  of  the  wolf-slaying  god  ;  but  this  on  the 
left,  the  renowned  temple  of  Juno  ;  and  for  the  place  whither 
we  are  arrived,  assure  thyself  thou  seest  the  all-opulent  Myce- 
nae :  and  this  the  habitation  of  Pelopidae  teeming  with  mur- 
ders, whence  I  formerly,  having  received  thee  from  thine  own 
sister,  bore  and  rescued  thee  from  thy  father's  bloody  fate,  and 
nourished  thee  thus  far  onward  in  thy  youth,  as  an  avenger  of 
his  murder  to  thy  sire.  Now  therefore,  Orestes,  and  thou, 
Py lades, ^  dearest  of  foreign  friends,  what  it  is  needful  to  do 
we  must  quickly  consider,  since  already  the  brilliant  light 
of  the  sun  wakes  clear  the  morning  carols  of  the  birds,  and 
the  dark  night  has  gone  from  heaven.^  Ere,  therefore,  any 
of  the  inhabitants  walk  forth  from  his  dwelling,  we  must 
confer  in  counsel,  since  we  are  come  to  that  point  where 
there  is  no  longer  any  season  for  delay,  but  the  crisis  for  ac- 
tion. 

Orestes.  O  most  beloved  of  serving-men,  what  evident 

and  Mycenae,  being  almost  contiguous,  went  by  the  general 
name  of  Argos,  as  the  cities  of  Loudon  and  Westminster  are 
known  by  the  common  denomination  of  London."  If  the  an- 
cient reading,  rd  ydp,  be  revived,  and  the  colon  after  ovTzoesis- 
removed,  take  aXao?-  in  apposition  with  Argos.  Brunck's  read- 
ing injures  the  metre.  Hermann  quotes  Euripides  to  defend 
Sophocles'  boldness;  Ivaxov  poai:  he  considered  Ar^os  used 
loosely  to  denominate  the  whole  country  and  its  divisions 
alike. 

1  lo,  whose  story  is  told  in  the  Prometheus  of  ^Eschylus, 
from  which  i>lay  the  word  oiVrpoTrA??^  is  borrowed.  The  temple 
of  Juno  was,  according  to  Strabo,  fifteen  stades  to  the  left  of 
the  town:  she  was  the  patroness  of  Argos. 

2  Pylades  was  the  son  of  Strophius,  a  Phocian  prince,  by  a 
sister  of  Agamemnon,  and  bein.s  educated  with  his  cousin  Ores- 
tes, formed  with  him  a  friendship  that  has  become  proverbial. 

•^  Commentators  disagree  on  the  interpretation  of  this  place. 
The  scholiast  sufigeststwo  constructions,  an  antiptosis,  iieS.aivrjr 
vvKTos-  rii  aarpa  ckXcXoittci^,  Vfhlch  has  been  followed  by  Brunck, 
and  cKXcMnre  rf.Ti'  aarpuiv  f)  neXawa  cv'ppovr].  Musgrave  translates 
iK\k\onTEv  excessit,  understanding  aorpa  to  mean  the  whole 
heavens,  as  Virp;il,  ^11.  III.  567: 

'*Ter  spumarn  elisam  et  rorantia  vidimus  astra." 
And  this  last  is  approved  of  by  Monk  in  the  Museum  Criticum. 


70  ELECTRA.  [24-56. 

proofs  sliowest  thou  that  thou  art  good  toward  us  ;  for  even 
as  a  generous  horse,  although  he  be  aged,  in  danger  has  not 
lost  his  spirit,  but  pricks  his  ears  upright,  even  so  thou  both 
urgest  us  forward  and  art  among  tiie  first  to  follow  us. 
Wherefore  my  determination  will  I  unfold ;  and  do  thou, 
lending  an  alert  attention  to  my  words,  if  in  aught  I  miss  of 
what  is  fitting,  set  me  right.  For  when  I  came  a  suppliant 
to  the  Pythian  oracle,  that  I  might  learn  in  what  way  I  should 
exact  justice  for  my  father  from  his  murderers,  Phoebus  gave 
me  an  answer,  such  as  thoii  presently  shalt  hear:  "That  in 
person,  alike  unfurnished  with  armor  and  with  martial  host, 
by  craft  I  should  steal  the  lawful  slaughter  of  mine  hand." 
Since,  then,  we  have  heard  such  an  oracle  as  this,  do  thou 
entering,  when  opportunity  shall  introduce  thee,  into  this 
house,  learn  all  that  there  is  doing,  that  being  informed  thou 
mayest  tell  us  sure  tidings.  For  fear  not  that  with  both  thine 
own  age  and  the  long  lapse  of  time  they  shall  recognize  thee, 
or  even  suspect  thee  thus  tricked  out.  ^  But  make  use  of  some 
such  tale  as  this,  that  thou  art  a  Phocian,'^  stranger,  coming 
from  Phanoteus,  since  he  is  the  chiefest  of  the  foreign  allies 
they  have.  But  announce,  adding  an  oatli,^  that  Orestes  is 
dead  by  a  violent  death,  having  been  tumbled  from  a  wheeled 
chariot-car  at  the  f*ythian  games.  So  let  thy  story  stand. 
But  we  having,  as  he  enjoined,  fii*st  crowned  my  father's  sep- 
ulchre with  libations  and  locks  cropjjed  from  my  head,  will 
then  come  back  again,  bearing  in  our  hands  a  brazen-sided 
vessel,  which  thou  also  knowest  is  somewhere  hidden  among 
the  brushwood,  that  cheating  them  with  words  we  may  bring 

1  Musgrave  objects  to  this  meaning  of  the  word  iiveiarnkvov, 
and  also  to  the  scholiast's  idea:  he  proposes  himself  to  render 
it  "canis  capillis  ror/ff/a/HHi."  ui'^or  is  certainly  applied  to  the 
hair.     Suidas  and  Moschopulus  are  against  him. 

2  cf>ct)K£a)r  -a[j  ai'^poi'  <i>avoT£(x}S'  is  Blomfield's  reading.  Mus. 
Crit.  ^KK£v~. — H. 

^  The  objection  of  Camerarius,  that  Orestes  should  not  be 
made  to  advise  perjurv,  has  given  Musgrave  great  trouble ;  and 
proposes  for  opKw  to  read  oyxM.  But  it  is  too  true  that  Orestes, 
by  his  own  admissions  just  after,  could  make,  like  Ulysses,  his 
own  principles  and  those  of  others  equally  subservient  to  his 
Interest  without  much  remorse.  For  the  suppressed  word 
ayyeXiav,  see  Brunck's  note. 


57-81.]  ELECTRA.  71 

them  pleasant  tidings,  how  that  my  body  is  perished,  already 
consumed  by  fire  and  reduced  to  ashes.  For  what  does  this 
pain  me,  when,  dead  in  words,  in  deeds  I  shall  be  safe,  and 
bear  away  renown  ?  I  indeed  think  no  expression  ill-omened 
which  gain  attends  :^  for  already  have  I  frequently  seen  the 
wise  also  in  story  falsely  dying  i'^  then  afterward,  when  they 
shall  again  have  returned  home,  they  have  been  the  more 
honored.  As  I  presume  that  I  also,  coming  to  life  subse- 
quently to  this  report,  shall  yet  blaze  forth,  as  a  star,  to  my 
foes.  But  O  land  of  my  forefathers,  and  ye  its  gods  indig- 
enous, welcome  me  as  prosperous  in  this  my  journey  ;  and 
thou  too,  O  abode  of  my  ancestors,  for,  urged  by  an  impulse 
from  heaven,  I  come  to  purge  thee  by  my  just  revenge  :  then 
dismiss  me  not  in  dishonor  from  this  my  country,  but  [make 
me]  master  of  my  wealth  and  the  restorer  of  my  house.  "^ 
This  now  I  have  said,  but,  old  man,  be  it  at  once  thy  care, 
having  gone,  to  execute  with  caution  thy  duty,  but  we  will 
go  forth,  for  it  is  the  season  ;  which  indeed  is  to  mankind 
the  greatest  arbiter  of  every  act.* 

Electra.  Alas  !  ah  me  unhappy  ! 

At.  In  sooth  methought  I  heard  from  the  door  some  fe- 
male servant  inside  heaving  a  suppressed  sigli,  my  son. 

Or.  Can  it  be  the  hapless  Electra  ?  wilt  thou  tarry  here 
and  listen  to  her  cries  ? 

1  Thus  Menelaus  in  Euripides: 

KUKOS"  fxiv  opviS"  £1  Ss  KspSavco  \iyu)v 
STai/jidS'  eifxL  [xf]  0avCjv,  Adyw  OavETv. 

2  This  alludes  to  Pythagoi^as,  who  feigned  himself  dead  to  ac- 
quire the  reputation  of  prophetic  skill.  Zamolxis  and  Aristeus 
of  Proconnesus,  author  of  the  Arimaspians,  have  similar  stories 
told  of  them  by  Herodotus,  B.  IV.  Hermann  wonders  at  the 
commentators  for  their  illustrations  here,  undertanding  the 
poet  to  allude  to  such  distinguished  men  generally  as,  being  at 
one  time  in  disgrace  with  and  banishment  from  their  country, 
were  afterward  held  in  greater  repute  than  ever. 

^  This  may  be  given  better  thus,  perhaps ;  "  And  make  me 
not  a  dishonored  outcast  from  my  country,  but  a  master,"  etc. 
*  Thus  in  Philoctetes,  v.  837  :' 

KUipoT  TOL  TTiivroyv  yvMixav  jVywi' 
Tro\v  rrapa  rroSa  KparoT  apvvrai. 


72  ELECTRA.  [82-112. 

At.  By  no  means.  Let  us  attempt  to  execute  nothing 
prior  to  the  commands  of  Loxias,^  and  from  these  to  com- 
mence our  course,  pouring  out  the  libations  to  thy  father,  for 
this  brings  us  both  victory  and  strength  in  action. 

El.  O  holy  light,  and  air  that  sharest  ecj[ual  space  Avith 
earth,  how  many  a  strain  of  mournful  dirges,  how  many  a 
blow  against  my  bleeding  breast  hast  thou  witnessed  for  me, 
when  murky  night  shall  have  retired  !^  But  for  my  live- 
long nights — the  hateful  couches  of  this  house  of  woes  are 
conscious  :  how  oft  I  mourn  mine  unhappy  sire,  Avhom  in  a 
foreign  country  gory  Mars  entertained  not,^  but  my  mother, 
and  ^Egisthus  the  partner  of  her  bed,  lop  off  his  head  with 
murderous  axe,  as  wood-cutters  an  oak.  And  for  all  this 
no  pity  is  felt  by  any  other  save  me,  when  thou,  my  father, 
hast  perished  so  disgracefully  and  piteously.  But  never 
then  Avill  I  desist  from  laments  and  bitter  cries,  as  long  as  I 
look  on  the  all -glowing  beams  of  the  stars,  as  I  look  on  this 
daylight ;  so  as  not,  like  some  nightingale  that  has  lost  her 
young,^  to  pour  forth  to  all  mine  echo  inviting  to  shrill  la- 
ment before  these  gates  of  my  native  home.  O  abode  of 
Pluto  and  of  Proserpine,  O  nether  Mercury^  and  awful  Curse, 

1  "The  epithet  'Lctsrian,'  so  constantly  used  by  the  Greek 
poets,  is  interpreted  by  the  scholia  in  two  w^ays,  either  as  re- 
ferring to  the  oblique  direction  of  his  voice  (/.<?.,  the  amhiguity 
of  his  oracles),  or  as  belonging  to  him  from  the  oblique  path  of 
the  sun  through  the  ecliptic."  Oxf.  Translation  of  Aristo- 
phanes. 

2  'YTro\£i(p0T},  Schol.  -apeXeri,  Brunck  recessit.  Musgrave  says, 
tVoXct-fii',  quod  pro  deficere,  minui  positum  citat  Bud^us  ex 
Aristotele,  melius  omnino  hie  couveuit  quam  passivum  v~o\el- 
-£(70ai,  quod  resto,  supersinn  valet.  Utrum  tamen  legendum  sit 
vno\£i~r)SLn  vtzoXuxLt}^  mihi  nou  satis  liquet." 

3  Cf.  iEsch.  Choeph.  345,  ti  yap  v-'  'lAuo  'Jlpor  nvoS-  \vKiwv, 
Ttartp  Sopiri.irjTOS'    Karr]vapio0r]~. — B. 

*  Brunck  translates  the  Greek  word  "p?t??/.?  orbata,"  Mus- 
grave, however,  considering  it  an  allusion  to  the  fate  of  Philo- 
mela and  Itys,  renders  it  "Uberorum  suomm  interfedrix."  As 
Franklin  observes  on  v.  147,  Procne,  who  put  Itys  to  death, 
is  supposed  bv  aEschylus,  Euripides,  and  Aristophanes  (in  his 
play  of  the  Birds  1  to  have  been  changed  into  a  nightingale. 

^'Mercury  is  addressed  by  this  name  in  allusion  to  his  office 
as  conductor  of  the  dead 


1 13-145.]  ELECTRA.  73 

and  ye  venerable  children  of  the  gods,  ye  Furies,  who  regard 
them  that  unjustly  perish,  them  that  by  stealth  usurp  an- 
other's bed,^  come  ye,  lend  aid,  avenge  the  murder  of  our 
father,  and  to  me  send  my  brother,  for  alone  I  have  no  longer 
strength  to  weigh  up  the  burden  of  affliction  that  is  in  the 
opposite  scale. 

Chorus.  Ah  !  Electra,  child,  child  of  a  most  wretched^ 
mother,  why  thus  insatiably  dost  thou  pine  in  lamentation, 
for  Agamemnon  long  since  taken  most  godlessly  in  snares 
by  thy  crafty  mother  and  to  an  evil  hand  betrayed  ?  O  that 
he  who  caused  this  might  perish,  if  it  be  lawful  for  me  to 
utter  this. 

El.  Offspring  of  noble  parents,  ye  are  come  as  the  solace 
of  my  troubles  ;  1  both  know  and  am  conscious  of  this ;  in 
no  Avise  does  it  escape  me,  nor  will  I  forsake  this  [task]  so 
as  not  to  bemoan  my  Avretched  father.  But,  ye  that  requite 
the  boon  of  every  kind  of  friendship,  leave  me  thus  to  lan- 
guish, alas  !  alas  !  I  implore  you. 

Ch.  Yet  still  thou  wilt  never  raise  thy  father  at  least  from 
the  lake  of  Pluto,  man's  common  bourne,  neither  by  shrieks 
nor  prayers.^  But  from  moderate  [laments]  to  a  grief  be- 
yond reason,  thou  ever  with  groans  art  perishing.  In  mat- 
ters wherein  there  is  no  release  from  evil,  why,  I  pray  you, 
art  thou  fond  of  misery  intolerable? 

El.   Foolish  he,  wdio  is  forgetful  of  his  parents  calami- 


-Animas  ille  evocat  Oreo 


Palleutes,  alias  sub  Tartara  tristia  mittit ; 
Dat  somnos  adimitque,  et  lumina  morte  resignat." 
From  the  third  otEce  enumerated  by  Virgil,  we  raay  suppose 
that  Electra's  prayers  had  already  been  effectually  addressed 
to  this  god,  as  Clytemnestra  shortly  after  sends  offerings  to 
Agamemnon's  tomb  in  consequence  of  having  had  her  rest  dis- 
turbed by  dreams  of  ill  omen. 

^  Hermann,  admitting  an  hiatus  of  some  words  before  tovt, 
tills  it  up  thus  :  aiaxp^^s-  \eKTpwv  TTpo^oTovs-  evvaT,  qiiibus  furtoerep- 
tus  est  pyoditus  torus. 

2  "Ai-orai/orarar,  Schol.  EfwXEorarry?-  recte.  Vide  Musgravium 
ad  Enripidis  Here.  Fur.  1349." — Brunck. 

^  Hermann  reads  avraiq,  the  vestiges  of  which  he  thinks  he 
has  found  in  Hesychius:  avrfiaei  (scribe  avrriai),  'Kiraveiaig, 
avT)]<xeaiv. 


74  ELECTRA.  [146-174. 

tously  deceased.  But  the  sorrower  that  mourns  for  Itys,^ 
ever  Itvs,  that  affrighted  bird,  messenger  of  Jove,  accords 
with  mv  feelings  at  least.  O  all-wretched  Niobe,  thee,  thee 
I  account  a  deity,  who  ever  in  thy  stony  tomb  weepest,  alas  ! 
alas  ! 

Ch.  Xot  to  thee  alone,  be  sure,  my  child,  among  man- 
kind hath  grief  arisen,  wherewith  thou  surpassetli  those 
within,  with  whom  thou  art  from  the  same  source,  and  by 
birth  akin  :  as  is  the  life  of  Chrysothemis  and  Iphianassa, 
and  he  that  sorroweth  in  his  youth  concealed,-  Avhom  one 
day  the  renowned  land  of  the  Mycenians  sliall  welcome 
haply,  in  ancestry  illustrious,  under  the  benign  conduct  of 
Jove  returning  to  this  land,  Orestes.^ 

El.  AVhom  forsooth  I  unceasingly  expecting,  wretch  that 
I  am  !  childless,  unwedded,  am  ever  roaming,  drenched  in 
tears,  supporting  unceasing  pain  of  miseries  ;  while  he  is 
forgetful  of  all  that  he  has  received,  and  all  he  has  been 
taught.  For  what  message  goes  forth  from  me  that  is  not 
mocked?  Since  he  is  ever  longing  indeed,  but  though  he 
longs,  he  deigns  not  to  make  his  appearance. 

Ch.  Courage,  my  daughter,  courage  !  There  is  a  mighty 
Jove  in  heaven,  *  who  o verlooketh  and  swayeth  all  things ; 

1  Penelope,  in  the  Odyssey,  similarly  describes  her  grief. 
Od.  xix.  520.  See  some  excellent  observations  on  the  line  I'irc 
Ba^id  rpoTzcoaa  xift  -zoX^rjxea  (piovijv  amoug  Twiulnsc's  remarks  on 
the  expression  of  musical  sound  by  poetry.  Arist.  Poet.  Prel. 
Diss. 

2  Hermann  makes  dxiwv  a  noun,  and  construes  it  with  Kpv-Td, 
"Happy  in  a  youth  unknown  to  sorrows  :"  scmota  a  doloribtis. 
This  is  much  less  forced  than  the  common  version. — Tr.  But 
if  Orestt^s  was  free  from  evils,  why  mention  him?  If  we  read 
Kpv-ra  c'  lixkov,  and  put  a  longer  stop  after  'liptdvac-aa,  we  shall 
have  a  better  sense  :  "thou  art,  like  them,  unhappy;  but  blest 
is  he,  whom  now  in  age  of  sorrow  reckless  at  some  time  My- 
cene's  glorious  land  shall  hail." — B. 

3  The  withholding  this  magic  of  a  name  till  the  last,  to  crown 
the  aiiectiouate  appeal  to  Electra's  bappier  thoughts,  is  worthy 
of  Sophocles;  and  if  equaled  at  all,  is  so  in  the  turn  .given  by 
Electra's  wounded  spirit  to  that  which  was  meant  so  differently. 
This,  however,  none  of  the  older  editors  have  preserved ;  and 
Bruuck's  and  Musgrave's  annotations  on  this  passage  show 
their  error. 

*  Plato  Phsedr.,  p.  344,  H.  '0  iilv  Sri  fikyag  rtyifKjdv  Kar*  ovpavov  Zeis 


175-213-]  ELECTRA.  75 

to  whom  referring  thy  too  bitter  choler,  be  neither  over- 
indignant  with  nor  forgetful  of  those  whom  thou  detestest : 
for  time  is  a  lenient  god.  Since  neither  is  the  son  of  Aga- 
memnon that  lives  on  the  herd-pasturing  shore  of  Crisa^ 
without  return,  nor  the  god  that  reigns  by  Acheron. 

El.  But  from  me  the  greater  part  of  life  hath  already 
passed  away  without  hope,  nor  can  I  longer  endure,  who 
without  parents  am  wasting  myself  away,  for  whom  no  man 
stands  forth  as  champion,  but  like  some  worthless  stranger 
I  dvvell  in  the  chambers  of  my  father,  in  raiment  thus  dis- 
graceful, and  take  my  place  at  empty  tables. 

Ch.  Pitiable  indeed  were  the  words  at  his  return, ^  and 
pitiable  that  in  thy  father's  chambers,  when  the  adverse 
stroke  of  the  all-brazen  axe  was  inflicted  on  him.  Fraud  it 
was  that  prompted,  lust  that  perpetrated,  the  murder,  hav- 
ing fearfully  brought  into  being  a  fearful  shape,  ^  whether  it 
were  god  or  mortal  that  did  all  this. 

El.  Oh  !  that  day,  that  dawned  above  all  indeed  most 
hateful  to  me  :  O  night,  O  shocking  woes  of  that  horrible 
banquet — the  disgraceful  death  my  sire  beheld  from  twain 
assassins,  that  seized  upon  my  life  betrayed,  that  destroyed 
me  !  To  whom  may  the  mighty  god  of  Olympus  give  to 
endure  retributive  sufferings,  and  may  they  never  enjoy 
their  splendor,  having  accomplished  such  deeds. 

Ch.  Bethink  thee  :  speak  no  farther :  art  thou  not  con- 
scious* from  what  a  state  tbou  fallest  at  present  into  hard- 

....  ^laKoafjMV  -livra  Kal  ETnj.it\6nevog.  Cf.  Themist.  Orat.  XV.  p. 
332;   Maximus  Tyr.  xxix.  p.  348.— B. 

^  Crisa,  usually  written  Crissa,  was  a  large  town  of  Phocis, 
said  to  be  the  capital  of  Strophius.  It  gave  name  to  the  Cris- 
ssean  bay,  the  scene  of  several  actions  in  the  Peloponnesian  war. 
2  Alluding  to  the  presaging  sorrow  of  the  Argive  people  on 
Agamemnon's  return,  the  adulterous  loves  of  ^^isthus  and 
Clytemnestra  being  known  to  them.  See  JEschylus. 
2  Precisely  Shakespeare's  idea ; 

"Between  the  acting  of  a  dreadful  thing, 
And  the  first  motion,  all  the  interim  is 
Like  a  phantasma,  or  a  hideous  dream." 

Jul.  Cses.,  act  2,  so.  1. 
*  Musgrave,  in  his  notes,  proposes  the  following  alterations 
in  these  lines : 


76  ELECTRA.  [214-250. 

ships  all  thine  own  thus  unworthily  !  For  thou  hast  incurred 
over  and  above  an  excess  of  evils,  continually  gendering 
quarrels  by  thy  sad  spirit.  But  these  matters  are  not  worth 
the  strife,  to  cope  with  those  in  power. ^ 

El.  By  dreadful  woes  have  I  been  forced  to  it,  ay,  terrible. 
I  am  fully  conscious  of  my  wrath,  nor  does  it  escape  me. 
But  enough,  amid  such  atrocious  crimes  I  shall  never  check"-^ 
these  miseries  as  long  as  life  shall  contain  me.  For  from 
whom,  O  friendly  race,  could  I  ever  hear  a  profitable  word? 
from  whom  that  which  is  opportune.  Forbear,  forbear  me, 
ye  comforters  ;  for  these  woes  shall  be  ne'er  relaxed  !  never 
will  I  rest  from  these  troubles  thus  countless  in  my  laments. 

Ch.  Nay,  but  with  good-will  at  least  I  advise  as  a  faithful 
mother,  that  thou  beget  not  woe  on  woe. 

El.  And  what  measure  exists  to  my  wretchedness  ?  Come, 
how  is  it  honorable  to  be  careless  of  the  dead?  with  whom 
of  mankind  originated  this?^  May  I  neither  be  had  in  honor 
among  them,  nor  if  I  am  united  to  any  good  may  I  dwell 
with  it  in  tranquillity,  if  I  repress  the  flights  of  my  shrill- 
toned  shrieks  to  the  dishonor  of  my  parents  ;  for  if  he,  hav- 
ing fallen,  shall  lie  in  earth  a  thing  of  nought,  and  they 
shall  not  in  turn  give  satisfaction  with  blood  for  blood,  then 
may  shame  and  piety  from  all  mankind  be  annihilated.  * 

Oil  yvojfiav  iaX£i^  t^  oariov 
TO.  TtapovT   oiKEiS',  a   r'  eiT  ara^ 
'E/Lt7rt7rr££r  ov~(o  aKaioJT. 
He  also  interprets,  and  perhaps  with  correctness,  ani  by  vesania. 
— Tr.     oiKeia~  ara?-,  "  evils  all  your  own."     ForElectra  had  not 
shown  the  same  submission  asChrysothemis,  and  consequently 
met  with  harsher  treatment. — B. 

^   Herm.  i^vxa  Tro\kiiovS',  rait  toX~  6vvaT0iS' 

OvK  epiara  TrXdOeiv. 
"  So  as  to  cope  with  those  in  power  on  these  points  which  admit 
not  of  gainsaying." — Tr.     Perhaps  we  should  read  -XdOwv, — B. 
2  ara-,  see  V.  208. 

^  Or,  "  in  whom  of  men  hath  this  arisen?"  This  is  perhaps 
the  better  translation.  Brunck's  Latin  version  has,  ubinam  homo 
est  eo  ingenio  natus  f 

*  Timon's  curse  on  Athens,  when  he  quits  it  forever,  is  a  fine 
amplification  of  this  prayer  ( if  it  be  a  prayer)  of  Electra.  See 
Timon  of  Athens,  act.  4,  sc.  1. 


251-282.]  ELECTRA.  77 

Ch.  I  indeed,  my  child,  came  to  promote  at  once  thy  wel- 
fare and  mine  own  ;  but  if  I  advise  not  well,  do  thou  pre- 
vail, for  we  will  follow  in  thy  company. 

El.  Ladies,  I  blush,  if  ia  my  many  lamentations  I  seem 
to  you  to  be  too  downhearted,  yet,  for  their  violence  forces 
me  to  do  it,  forgive  me.  For  how  could  any  woman  of  high 
family,  looking  on  her  father's  wrongs,  not  act  thus  ?  wrongs 
that  by  day  and  by  night  I  see  continually  budding  rather 
than  withering  ;i  to  whom,  in  the  first  place,  the  deeds  of  the 
mother  that  bore  me  have  turned  out  most  hateful ;  next,  in 
mine  own  home  I  consort  with  the  assassins  of  my  father,  and 
by  these  I  am  controlled,  and  from  these  it  is  my  lot  alike  to 
receive  and  to  want :  furthermore,  what  manner  of  days  think 
you  I  pass,  when  I  behold  j^gisthus  seated  on  my  father's 
throne  ;  and  look  on  him  dressed  in  the  very  garments  that  he 
wore,^  and  pouring  out  libations  to  the  household  gods,  where 
he  slew  him  ?  Avhen  I  see,  too,  the  crowning  insult  of  all  this, 
the  assassin  himself  in  the  bed  of  my  father  with  my  guilty 
mother,  if  I  must  call  her  mother,  thus  cohabiting  with  him  ? 
So  hardened  is  she,  that  she  lives  with  that  pollution,  in  fear 
of  no  avenging  Fury  ;  but  as  if  triumphantly  laughing  at  what 
she  has  done,  having  looked  out  for  that  day  on  which  she 
formerly  slew  my  father  by  treachery,  on  that  day  she  insti- 
tutes the  festive  dance,  and  sacrifices  the  monthly  offerings  of 
sheep  to  her  guardian  gods;"^  while  I,  the  miserable, witnessing 

^  Similarly  Philoctetes  : 

f)    6'  Zjif]   VOffOS' 

del  -rridrjXe,  Kanl  fxtisov  epxerai. — V.  258. 

^  "Vestimenta  regibus  solemniter  gestata.  Statius.  Tbeb.  v. 
315,  notas,  regum  gestamina,  Testes :  et.  vi.  80,  cultusqiie,  insignia 
regni,  Purpureos.  Germanic.  Arat.  Phsenomeu.  Beges— satis 
religiose  timicati.     Nounus.  K.  20. 

pa<Ti\fi'ia  (paiSpa  roKrioT 
^vaaro^  nopcpvpico  T:CTraXayi.itva  (pdpea  koXco." — Musgrave. 

^  "Clyteninestra,  in  imitation  of  the  solemn  honors  paid  to 
the  gods  and  heroes  of  the  new  moons,  called  therefore,  'ippniva 
icpn,  iustituted  a  monthly  festival,  witli  sacrifices  to  the  gods  her 
preservers,  on  the  day  on  which  Agamemnon  was  murdered, 
Tliis  was  celebrated  with  songs  and  dances,  and  a  feast  inso- 
lently called  Epulai  Agamemnonise."— Potter.  To  which 
Franklin  adds,  that  Diuias,  in  his  history  of  Ai'gos,  informs  us 


78  ELECTRA.  [283-306. 

all  this  at  home,  lament,  pine  away  and  shriek  over  the  Ill- 
omened  feast  that  bears  my  father's  name  ;  alone,  to  myself, 
for  1  have  not  power  even  to  weep  so  much  as  my  soul  has 
pleasure  in  doing  ;  since  the  woman  herself,  in  words  high- 
spirited,^  accosts  and  reviles  me  with  such  harsh  terms  as 
these:  "O  god -detested  thing  of  hate,  to  thee  alone  is  thy 
father  dead  ?  Is  none  else  of  mankind  in  grief  ?  Mayest  thou 
perish  evilly,  nor  may  the  nether  gods  ever  release  thee  from 
thy  present  woes."  Thus  she  insults  me  :  but  when  she 
hears  from'any  that  Orestes  is  about  to  come,  then  infuriate 
she  comes  and  cries  aloud  :  "Art  thou  not  the  cause  of  all 
this  to  me  ?  Is  not  this  thy  work,  that  didst  steal  and  spirit 
away  Orestes  from  my  hands?  But  be  assured  that  thou 
shalt  pay  a  deserved  penalty  at  least. "^  Thus  does  she  bark 
upon  me,  and  with  her  close  at  her  side  sets  her  on  to  this 
that  glorious  man,  her  husband,  that  utter  dastard,  that  very 
pest,  that  fighter  of  his  battles  with  woman's  aid.  While  I, 
unhappy,  expecting  from  time  to  time  that  Orestes  will 
come  upon  them  to  put  a  stop  to  all  this,  am  undone.  For, 
ever  purposing  to  effect  something,  he  hath  ruined  my  hopes 
both  present  and  to  come.*     In  such  a  condition,  then,  my 

it  was  on  the  tliirteenth  of  the  month  Gamelion,  which  answers 
to  the  beginning  of  our  January,  or,  according  to  Potter,  the 
latter  end  of  tliat  month,  or  beginning  of  February. 

1  Musgrave  objects  to  the  idea  of  Clytemnestra  being  noble 
in  words,  and  proposes  to  read  AoYoio-f  ycj/i/aui,  iJJa  in  insidiis 
fortis. — Tr.  But  as  yewaio-  is  often  used  ironically,  we  may 
very  well  take  yew.  \6y,  to  mean  "  word-valiant."  The  transla- 
tion, "  as  she  is  called,"  is  quite  wrong. — B. 

■^  Indeed  it  is  by  no  means  easy  to  see  why  Electra  had  not 
ere  this  fallen  a  victim  to  the  vengeance  of  her  mother,  as  by 
her  own  account  she  took  no  pains  to  conceal  her  abhorrence 
of  Clytemnestra's  conduct.  Perhaps  we  must  refer  it  to  the 
same  cause  which,  in  the  Odyssey,  preserves  Telamachus  so 
long — superstition  ;  to  which  the  Greeks  were  most  prone,  and 
which  by  no  means  ceases  with  religion  and  virtue,  as  both  the 
impious  festival  and  penitential  offerings  of  the  Argive  queen 
sufficiently  prove. 

^  'By  ovrra- Kal  a-ouo-ar,  Hermann  understands  her  hopes  in 
herself  present  and  in  Orestes  absent.  Many  probably  will 
disagree  with  him. — Te,     Liddell,  s.  v.  a~£ifjn,  well  remarks 


307-334.]  ELECTRA.  79 

friends,  there  is  no  room  for  either  prudence  or  proper  re- 
spect, but  in  evils  forsooth,  there  is  absolutely  necessity  to  be 
subservient  to  evil. 

Ch.  Come,  tell  me,  whether  sayest  thou  all  this  to  us, 
iEgisthus  being  at  hand  or  having  quitted  his  home? 

El.  Even  so.  Think  not  I  could  walk  abroad  were  he 
near  ;  but  now  he  happens  to  be  in  the  country. 

Ch..  Truly,  then,  would  I  with  greater  boldness  join  with 
thee  in  discourse,  if  this  be  indeed  so. 

Eli.  As  he  is  now  absent,  question  what  thou  wilt. 

Ch.  Then  1  ask  thee,  what  sayest  thou  of  thy  brother? 
will  he  come,  or  delays  he  ?     I  wish  to  know. 

El.  He  promises  at  least,  but  promising  he  performs 
nought  of  what  he  says. 

Ch.  Ay,  for  man  in  the  performance  of  a  mighty  deed  is 
wont  to  delay. 

El.  And  yet  it  was  not  with  delay  I  saved  him. 

Ch.  Courage  ;  he  is  naturally  generous  to  aid  his  friends. 

El.  I  am  confident  of  it,  else  had  I  not  long  to  live. 

Ch.  Speak  nothing  farther  at  present,  since  coming  out  of 
the  house  I  perceive  thy  sister,  by  birth  of  the  same  father 
and  mother,  Chrysothemis/  bearing  the  sepulchral  offerings 
in  her  hands,  such  as  are  the  appointed  due  of  the  dead. 

Chrysothemis.  Sister,  what  talk  is  this  thou  again  boldest, 
having  come  forth  to  the  entrance  of  the  vestibule  ;  nor  art 
willing  to  be  taught  by  length  of  time  not  idly  to  gratify  a 
fruitless  rage  ?  Nevertheless  thus  far  I  know  myself,  that 
I  am  grieved  at  present  circumstances  ;  so  muchso  that  were 
I  to  acquire  the  power,  I  would  disclose  what  are  my  senti- 

that  this  is  merely  like  a-yre-  kuI  (wof rsr,  aud  means  "all  the 
hopes  I  have." — B. 

^  Thus  Homer,  II.  ix. : 

"  Yet  more — tliree  daughters  in  his  court  are  bred, 

And  each  well  worthy  of  a  royal  bed  ; 

Loadice,  and  Iphigenia  fair, 

And  bright  Chrysothemis  with  golden  hair." 
The  original  has  Iphianassa,  which  Pope  appears  to  have  little 
reason  for  changing  to  Iphigenia,  who  had  been  sacrificed  at 
Aulis.  Electra  is  usually  considered  the  same  with  Lao- 
dice. — Tr.  But  they  are  one  and  the  same  person.  Cf.  Lucret. 
I.  85.— B. 


So  ELECT  R  A.  [.^^--364. 

meni>  toward  thorn.  Bitt  now  in  miseries  I  thiitk  tit  to  voy- 
age with  lowered  >ail.  and  wox  faney  indeed  1  elTeot  sonie- 
thinii-.  y«.  t  work  them  no  n)i>ehief.  Thtts  moreover  would  I 
have  thee  also  aei  :  any  yet  the  riuht  is.  not  wherein  1  speak, 
but  wlierein  liuni  jndgest.  But  it  I  nui>t  need>  live  free.  1 
must  wholly  obey  my  nuister. 

Ki..  Shameful  at  least  is  it.''  that  thou  being  from  th? 
father  who>e  bo^rn  child  thou  art.  forgettest  him,  hut  art 
regardfid  of  thy  mother.  For  all  these  admonitions  to  me 
are  taught  thee  by  her,  and  nought  thou  speakest  of  tliyself. 
Else  choose  at  least  one  of  the  two.  either  to  be  senseless,  or 
in  thy  senses  to  liave  no  remembrance  of  thy  friends,  since 
thou  just  now  snyest,  couldst  thou  bin  get  strength  to  it, 
thou  wouldst  demonstrate  tliy  abliorrence  of  these  ;  but  Avith 
me.  who  am  in  all  things  bent  on  vengeance  for  my  father, 
thou  not  otily  dost  not  co-operate,  but  also  dissuadest  me  in 
action,  llaili  not  this  cowardice  to  add  to  misery?  For 
instruct  me,  or  learn  of  me,  what  advantage  could  accrue  to 
me  having  desisted  from  these  wailings.  Do  not  I  live?  but 
ill.  1  know,  yet  well  enough  for  me.  And  I  annoy  them,  so 
as  to  attach  lionor  to  the  dead,  if  in  the  other  world  there 
be  any  pleasure  :  while  thou,  our  hater,  hatest  them  in  word, 
but  in  deed  consort  est  with  thy  father's  murderers.  I  then 
would  never,  not  even  if  any  one  were  purposing  to  bring 
me  these  thy  gifts,  wherein  thou  now  wantonest,  submit  my- 
self to  these  :  no,  to  thee  be  the  wealthy  board  set  out,  and 
plenty  flow  around  thee  :  to  me  the  only  nourishment  be  not 
to  pain  myself ;-    thine  honor  I  covet  not  to  obtain  :    nor 

^  This  -whole  scene  between  the  two  sisters  closely  resembles 
the  first  between  Antigone  and  Ismeue;  as  well  in  the  dispo- 
sitions of  the  parties  concerned,  as  in  the  subject  of  their  dis- 
cussion, the  necessary  respect  to  be  paid  to  the  dead.  And 
when  we  see  some  of  the  finest  productions  of  the  Greek  lan- 
guage depending  for  their  catastrophe  on  this  point,  we  shall 
perhaps  the  less  wonder  that  an  idea  so  constantly  implanted 
in  the  multitude  as  the  connection  of  the  dead  with  the  Itv- 
iutr.  should  have  taken  root,  even  in  so  vigorous  a  mind  as 
Aristotle's. 

-  See  Brunck's  note,  ^Musgrave.  who  retains  the  common 
reading,  thus  remarks:  "Scholiastes  et  hoe  iu  MSS.  invenisse 
videtur.  et  pra?terea  Ai-fTi.quod  hunc  sensum  etiiceret :  Mihi 


365-384.]  ELECTRA.  81 

woulfJ.-t  tliou,  at  least  wert  thou  wise  :  hut  now  when  thou 
hast  in  thy  power  to  be  called  the  cliild  of  a  sire  the  noblest 
of  all,  be  called  thy  mother's  :  for  thus  to  most  men  wilt 
tliou  show  thyself  base,  deserting  thy  murdered  father  and 
thy  friends. 

Ch,  Xouj^ht  v.-rathfully,  I  pray  you  by  the  gods  :  since 
there  is  profit  in  the  words  of  both,  wouldst  thou  but  learn 
to  make  use  of  hers,  and  she  in  turn  of  thine. 

ChPw.  I,  ladies,  am  in  some  sort  accustomed  to  her  words  : 
nor  had  I  ever  recalled  it  to  her  mind,  had  I  not  heard  of  a 
most  grievous  affliction  coming  upon  her,  which  will  with- 
hold her  from  these  protracted  lamentations. 

Kl.  Come,  tell  me  then  the  hardship :  for  shouldst  thou 
tell  me  aught  greater  than  these  present.  I  would  no  longer 
contradict  thee. 

Chr.  Nay,  I  will  tell  thee  all,  as  much  as  I  know.  For 
they  purpose,  if  thou  wilt  not  desist  from  these  wailings,  to 
send  thee  thither,  where  never  shalt  thou  V>ehold  the  light 
of  the  sun  ;  but  living  in  a  confined  vault,  without  this 
country,  shalt  thou  chant  thy  wc^es.  Wherefore  bethink 
thee,  and  never  hereafter  when  thou  hast  suffered  blame 
me.     For  now  it  is  thine  to  be  wise  in  good  time.^ 

satis  non  deficere  alimentn.  Sed  omnino  retinendum  Xv-rrcTv.  Mihi 
instar  puhula  sit,  non  me  dnntaxat,  sed  alios  angered — Confer,  v. 
357.  Hertijann  retains  the  common  readinj;  rov^^t  jin  'KvTrelv, 
which  he  rendere  mihi  non  dolorem  creare  {mihi  hoc  tantum  esto 
pabulum)  and  understands  Electra  to  allude  to  the  remorse  she 
iijust  experience,  if  she  paid  an  impious  respect  to  iEgisthus 
and  her  mother. — Tk.  I  have  adopted  Hermann's  interpreta- 
tion, as  being  best  suited  to  the  sense,  although  I  am  per- 
suaded all  is  not  right  in  the  text. — B. 

1  It  has  been  before  remarked  that  this  scene  resembled  one 
in  Antigone:  the  coincidence  of  the  two  plays  is  here  made 
still  more  striking  by  the  punishment  with  which  Electra  is 
threatened. 

"  If  mournful  cries  and  wailings  before  death 
Availed,  there  is  not  one,  be  well  assured, 
That  ere  would  cease  them.     In.stant  take  her  hence. 
Inclose  her  in  the  rock's  sepulchral  cave, 
As  I  commanded  ;  leave  her  there  alone, 
Either  to  die,  or  there  to  live  entombed." 

—Potter,  Ant.  p.  168. 


82  ELECTRA.  [385-406. 

El.  "What,  then,  and  have  they  resolved  thus  to  treat  me? 

Chr.  Most  surely;  when,  in  fact,  -^Egisthus  shall  come 
home. 

El.   Nay,  then,  may  he  quickly  arrive  for  this  at  least. 

Chr.  What  words  are  these  thou  cursest  thyself  withal, 
unhappy? 

El.  That  he  may  come,  if  he  purposes  to  do  aught  of  this. 

Chr.  That  thou  mayest  feel  what  suffering?  Where  can 
thy  senses  be  ? 

El.  That  I  may  escape  as  far  as  possible  from  you. 

Chr.  But  hast  thou  no  regard  to  thy  present  life? 

El.  Ay,  a  line  life  is  mine,  Avorth  admiring  ! 

Chr.  xsay,  it  might  be,  and  thou  knewest  how  to  be  wise. 

El.  Teach  me  not  to  be  a  traitress  to  my  friends. 

Chr.  I  teach  thee  not  so,  but  to  give  way  to  those  in 
power. 

El.  Do  thou  thus  flatter  ;  thou  speakest  not  my  wont. 

Chr.  Yet  surely  it  is  honorable  at  least  not  to  have  fallen 
from  imprudence. 

El.  I  will  fall,  if  needs  I  must,  in  avenging  my  father. 

Chr.  Our  father,  I  am  sure,  grants  indulgence  in  this.^ 

El.  These  words  it  is  the  coward's  part  to  praise. 

Chr.  But  wilt  not  thou  be  persuaded  and  consent  to  me  ? 

El.  Ko,  trulv.  Mav  I  not  vet  be  so  void  of  understand- 
ing?"^ 

Chr.  Then  will  I  too  begone  on  my  way,  whither  I  Avas 
sent. 

El.  But  AA-hither  art  thou  Avending?  to  whom  carriest 
thou  these  offerings  ? 

Chr.  My  mother  sends  me  to  make  libations  at  my  father's 
tomb. 

1  Thus  Ismene  to  her  sister: 

"  I  then  (of  those  beneath  the  earth  reA^ered 
Imploring  pardon,  since  by  force  constrained) 
Will  yield  obedience  to  one  potent  lord. 
Attempts  bevond  our  strength  no  prudence  show." 

Potter,  Ant.  v.  69. 

2  Mfj-co,  per  y^irorrira  for  /i '/-ore,  since  -w,  as  Buttmann  has  ob- 
served in  his  Greek  Grammar,  includes  always  a  reference  to 
past  time.     On  this  \ir6rris-  see  Porson  ad  hec.  1260. 


407-427-]  ELECTRA.  83 

El.  How  sayest  thou  ?  to  the  deadliest  of  her  human  ene- 
mies? 

Chr.  Whom  herself  slew  :^  for  this  wouldst  thou  say. 

El.  At  the  persuasion  of  whom  of  her  friends?  Whose 
'pleasure  is  this? 

Chr.   From  some  nocturnal  fright,  to  my  thinking. 
•    El.  O  gods  of  my  fathers  !  aid  me  even  now. 

Chr.  Hast  thou  any  cheering  hope  respecting  this  terror  ? 

El.  Wouldst  thou  relate  to  me  the  vision,  I  then  could 
tell  thee. 

Chr.  I  know  not,  save  a  little,  to  tell  thee. 

El.  Nay,  tell  me  that.  Many  a  trifling  word,  believe 
me,  hath  ere  now  both  overtlirown  and  established  mortals. 

Chr.  There  was  a  report  that  she  witnessed  a  second  time 
the  presence  of  my  and  thy  father  having  returned  to  life, 
and  then  that  he,  having  taken  the  staff  which  once  he  bore, 
but  now  ^gisthus,  fixed  it  in  the  earth,  and  from  it  sprouted 
up  a  vigorous  scion,  wherewith  the  whole  land  of  Mycense 
was  overshadowed.^  This  I  heard  from  one  who  related  it, 
who  was  present  while  she  reveals  her  dream  to  the  sun."* 
But  more  than  this  I  know  not,  save  that  she  sends  me  in 

1  Homer's  account  is  different :  vid.  Od.  IV.  529 : 

AvriKU  6'  AlyiodoS"  SoXiTjv  c^pdcaaro  teX^^^ 

KpivdfiEvoT  Kara  Snp.ov  ieiKOai  Oo'traT  dpicrrov^^ 

Yiics  Xoxov,  eripcoOr}  6'  avcoyei  Saira  TvtvecOai. 

Avrdp  h  j8>7  koXcmv,  \\yajicnvova,  Troijxtva  \awv, 

''jTrnoKjiv  Koi  ox£(r'pit',  neiKea  pepfxrfpi'^cov. 

Tdv  6'  ovK  ciSor   oXeOpov  dvfjYays   kul  KaTeire<pv£ 

AenrviaaaT. 
He  farther  adds,  that  J^^gisthus  alone  escaped,  both  his  own 
and  Agamemnon's  followers  being  slain. 

2  Compare  theCboephorfeof  ^schylus,  from  which  Sophocles 
has  borrowed  the  idea  of  the  dream. 

^  Under  an  idea  that  the  god  who  dispelled  the  shades  of 
night  from  the  earth  was  also  capable  of  averting  the  evils 
which  had  been  threatened  during  that  night,  the  ancients, 
having  been  alarmed  by  dreams,  used  to  tell  them  to  the  sun  ; 
and  hence,  says  Franklin,  Apollo  was  termed  'ATrorpon-aior, 
"  Senserat  ut  pulsas  tandem  Medea  tenebras, 
Eapta  toris,  primi  jubar  ad  placabile  Phoebi. 
Ibat."  Val.  Flacc.  v.  330. 


84  ELECTRA.  [42S-450. 

consequence  of  this  alarm.  Xow  by  our  country's  gods  I 
implore  thee,  yield  to  me,  nor  fall  by  imprudence  ;  for  if 
thou  shalt  repulse  me,  hereafter  thou  wilt  send  for  me  in 
trouble.^ 

El.  But,  my  beloved,  of  all  this  that  thou  carriest  in 
thine  hands,  attach  nothing  to  the  tomb :  for  it  is  not  law- 
ful for  thee,  nor  pious,  from  that  hated  woman  to  place 
funeral  gifts,  or  to  carry  expiatory  libations  to  my  father. 
But  aAvay  with  them  secretly,  either  to  the  winds,  or  to 
deep-sunk  dust,  where  never  any  of  them  shall  approach 
my  father's  place  of  rest:  but  when  she  shall  be  dead, 
lie  they  in  earth  a  deposit  for  herself  ;  for  had  she  not 
been  naturally  the  most  daring  of  women,  slie  in  the 
first  place  had  never  at  any  time  crowned  these  hateful 
libations  for  him,  whom  at  least  she  slew.  For  consider, 
whether  the  entombed  dead  in  thy  opinion  receives  these 
honors  in  mood  friendly  to  her  ;  by  whom  perishing  unlion- 
ored,  like  a  foe,  he  was  mangled,  and  for  a  purification  she 
wiped  off  her  spots  upon  his  head.^  What,  thinkest  thou 
to  bear  these  atonements  of  the  murder  for  her?  It  can  not 
be.  But  leave  these  alone,  and  do  thou,  having  cut  from 
the  ringlets  on  thine  head  the  extreme  hairs,  ^  and  from  me 
unhappy,  a  paltry  gift  indeed,  but  still  such  as  I  have,  give 

1  Hermann  has  here  ably  pointed  out  the  skill  of  the  poet  in 
connecting  Chrysothemis'  warning  to  her  sister  with  tlie  ac- 
count of  Clytemnestra's  alarm,  who  would  be  made  doubly 
vindictive  in  her  purposes  toward  Electra  by  fear. 

■^  Those  among  the  ancients  who  had  murdered  any  person 
believed  that  the  wiping  their  swords,  or  any  other  weapon 
they  had  used,  on  the  head  of  the  deceased,  would  prevent  his 
aveugiug  spirit  from  having  power  upon  them.  The  cutting 
ofi"  and  wearing  under  their  arms  a  piece  of  flesh  taken  from 
the  dead  body  was  also  thought  a  spell  of  like  influence. 

^  "  It  hath  been  observed  that  the  ceremony  of  cuttino:  off 
the  hair,  while  it  was  obviously  expressive  of  violent  emotion, 
had  a  latent  meaning  couched  under  it.  As  the  hair  was  cut 
off  from  the  head,  never  more  to  be  united  to  it,  so  were  the 
dead  cut  ofi" from  the  living,  nevermore  to  return.  This  usage 
was  not  confined  to  the  heathen  world.  It  is  taken  notice  of 
in  Scripture:  Ezekiel,  describing  a  great  lementation,  says, 
'Thev  shall  make  themselves  utterlv  bald  for  thee:'  c.  xxvii. 
31."  "^  Notes  to  Trans.  Miu.  Poet.  Q.  191. 


451-50S.]  ELECTRA.  85 

him  this  squalid^  [hair],  and  my  girdle,  not  garnished  with 
fineries.  And  falling  down,  beseech  him  from  the  earth  to 
come  a  kindly  aid  to  us  against  our  enemies,  and  that  his  son 
Orestes  with  mightier  hand  may  alive  ti'ample  under  foot 
his  foes,  that  henceforth  we  may  crown  him  with  wealthier 
hands  than  wherewith  we  now  offer  our  gifts.  I  think  in- 
deed, I  think  that  he  hath  some  plan  in  sending  to  her  these 
dreams  of  horrid  aspect.  But,  however,  my  sister,  perform 
this  service  for  both  thyself  and  me  an  aid,  and  for  the  most 
beloved  of  all  mankind,  now  lying  in  Hades,  our  common 
sire. 

Ch.  With  piety  the  damsel  speaks  :  but  thou,  my  friend, 
if  thou  be  wise,  wilt  do  this. 

Che..  I  will  do  it  ;  for  that  which  is  right  has  no  good 
reason  for  one  to  strive  with  two,  but  to  hasten  its  perform- 
ance. But,  upon  my  attempting  these  deeds,  let  there  be 
silence  on  your  part,  for  the  gods'  sake,  my  friends,  since  if 
my  mother  shall  hear  of  this,  a  bitter  attempt,  methinks,  I 
shall  yet  hazard  in  this. 

Ch.  If  I  be  not  born  a  foolish  prophet,  and  wanting  in 
wise  judgment,  there  will  come  Justice  the  prophetic,  bear- 
ing in  her  hands  righteous  mastery :  she  will  pursue  them, 
my  child,  at  no  distant  period.  Confidence  rises  within  me, 
just  now  hearing  the  sweetly-breathing  dreams.^  For  never 
is  thy  parent  the  king  of  Greeks  forgetful  at  least,  nor  the 
ancient  brazen  two-edged  axe,  which  slew  him  with  most 
shameful  insults.  Also  shall  come  the  many-footed  and 
many-handed  Erinnys  of  brazen  tread,  that  is  concealed  in 
dreadful  ambush.  For  an  incestuous  unhallowed  rivalry  of 
blood-defiled  nuptials  has  come  upon  those  to  whom  it  was 
unlawful.  For  these  deeds,  of  a  truth,  it  holds  by  me  that 
no  portent  can  ever,  ever  be  come  upon  us  without  harm  to 
either  the  doers  or  the  accomplices.  In  good  truth,  there 
are  no  auguries  to  mortals  in  alarming  dreams,  nor  in  ora- 
cles, unless  this  apparition  of  the  night  shall  anchor  at  last 

1  "  defend!  potest  dXnrapri,  modo  ea  vox  significare  putetur 
comam  non  accommodatam  supplication i,  ut  quiB  non  satis 
compta  atque  uitide  habita  sit." — Herm. 

2  That  is,  to  the  party  of  Agamemnon,  in  proportion  as  they 
came  unwelcome  and  alarming  to  Clvtemuestra. 


86  ELECTRA.  [509-527, 

in  good.  ^  O  toilsome  horsemanship  of  Pelops  in  old  time, 
how  woeful  earnest  thou  to  this  country  !  For  since  the 
drowned  Myrtilus^  was  sent  to  [his  last]  sleep,  hurled  head- 
long forth  in  dire  insult  from  his  all-golden  car,  no  calamity 
of  many  troubles  hath  ever  yet  been  wanting  to  this  house. 

Clytemnestra.  Let  loose,  it  seems,  again  thou  roamest ; 
for  iEgisthus  is  not  here,  who  ever  checked  thee  lest,  being 
abroad,  thou  shouldst  dishonor  thy  friends.  But  now,  as  he 
is  absent,  thou  heedest  not  me  at  least.  Kay,  more,  thou 
hast  actually  denounced  me  at  large  and  to  many,  as  that  I 
am  impudent,  and,  contrary  to  justice,  am  the  aggressor  in 
insolence  to  thee  and  thine. ^  Yet  have  I  no  insolence  ;  but 
bespeak  thee  evil  by  being  so  often  slandered  by  thee.  For 
that  thy  father,  no  other  pretense  hast  thou  constantly,  fell 
by  my  liand.  My  hand  :  I  know  it  well,  I  have  no  denial  to 
make  of  this.  For  Justice  took  him  not  I  only,  which  thou 
oughtest  to  aid,  wert  thou  haply  in  thy  senses.     Since  this 

1  Musgrave  considers  the  latter  part  of  this  chorus  as  out  of 
place  after  the  promise  of  a  prosperous  fortune  to  the  house  of 
Agamemnon.  Yet  as  this  could  not  be  without  a  crime;  since 
"sanguine  quserendi  reditus;"  Hermann  defends  the  transi- 
tion made  to  the  primal  curse  of  the  ill-starred  royal  family 
of  Argos. 

2  Myrtilns,  son  of  Mercury  and  Plifetusa,  was  charioteer  to 
CEnomaus,  king  of  Pisa,  the  father  of  Hippodamia,  whose  horses 
he  rendered  the  most  famous  for  their  swiftness  in  all  Greece. 
This  it  was  which  produced  the  confidence  of  CEuomaus  in 
challenging  his  daughter's  suitors  to  the  chariot  race,  and  had 
already  been  the  destruction  of  thirteen  chiefs,  when  Pelops 
bribed  Myrtilus  with  a  promise  of  sharing  the  favors  of  Hip- 
podamia. Thus  allured,  he  gave  an  old  chariot  to  CEnomaus, 
which  hroke  down  in  the  course,  and  killed  him.  When,  how- 
ever, Myrtilus  demanded  the  reward  of  his  perfidy,  Pelops 
threw  him  into  the  sea,  thus  exemplifying  the  words  of  Shake- 
speare's Henry ; 

"They  love  not  poison,  that  do  poison  need  ; 
Nor  do  I  thee,  though  I  did  wish  him  dead. 
I  hate  the  murderer,  love  him  murdered." 

3  Hermann  places  a  comma  after  apx^,  not,  he  says,  because 
the  reading  adopted  by  Brunck  and  others  is  incorrect  (v. 
Matth.  Gr.  Gr.  ^  549),  but  because  Tre^pa  Slkiis-  lipxu)  is  a  better 
sequel  to  the  preceding  dpaceXa  ei^n. 


528-562.]  ELECTRA.  87 

tliy  father,  whom  thou  art  ever  wailing,  alone  of  Greeks 
could  bear^  to  sacrifice  to  the  gods  thine  own  sister,  though 
he  suffered  not  from  pain,  when  he  begat  her,  equally  with 
me  that  bare  her.  Enough  :  teach  me  now  for  whose  sake 
he  sacrificed  her.^  Wilt  thou  say,  for  the  Greeks?  But 
they  had  no  claim  to  kill  my  daughter  at  least.  But  if  for- 
sooth then  for  his  brother  Menelaus  he  murdered  what  was 
mine,  was  he  not  bound  to  give  me  due  satisfaction  ?  Had 
not  he  two  children,^  for  whom  to  die  was  more  reasonable 
than  for  her,  they  being  of  the  father  and  mother  for  whose 
sake  was  the  voyage?  What,  had  Hades  a  desire  of  my 
children,  rather  than  hers,  to  glut  herself  with  them  ?  Or 
was  affection  for  his  children  by  me,  neglected  by  their  aban- 
doned father,  yet  remained  in  Menelaus?  W^ere  not  these 
the  acts  of  a  witless  sire,  a  villain  in  purpose?  I  indeed 
think  so,  even  though  I  speak  contrary  to  thy  sentiments. 
But  the  deceased  at  least  would  say  so,  could  she  resume  her 
voice.  I  then  am  not  disheartened  at  what  I  have  done  ; 
but  if  I  seem  to  thee  to  judge  amiss,  do  thou,  preserving 
righteous  judgment,  reproach  those  near  of  kin.* 

El.  Thou  wilt  not  now  at  least  assert  that  I,  having  com- 
menced with  some  offensive  words,  have  then  heard  this 
from  thee  ;  but,  wouldst  thou  permit  me,  I  would  rightly 
argue  at  once  in  behalf  of  the  deceased  and  my  sister. 

Cly.  Nay,  then,  I  do  permit  ;  but  hadst  thou  always  thus 
begun  thine  address  to  me,  thou  hadst  not  been  offensive  to 
listen  to. 

El.  Well,  then,  to  thee  I  speak.  Thou  ownest  thou  killed 
my  father.  Than  this,  what  confession  could  be  yet  more 
base,  whether  in  fine  with  justice  or  without?  But  I  will 
prove  to  thee  that  thou  didst  not  slay  him  with  justice  at 
least;  but  persuasion  from  a  villain,  with  whom  thou  now 

^  Cf.  ^SCh.  Ag.    224:    sVXa  S'  ovv  dvrrip  yeveadai  QvyarpoS'. — B. 

2  Herm.  tov,  \apiv  rivo^  edv.  ai>.  "  In  return  for  what,  in  favor 
to  whom."  Thus  in  the  Nubes,  dfrl  before  tov  is  omitted,  t. 
22. 

3  This,  says  the  scholiast,  thouj^ch  it  militates  against  Homer's 
account,  is  in  union  with  Hesiod's  : 

"H  teksO'  'Vjpfjiiorjv  Sox'ptK'KsiTM  M^J'sXaw, 

' Otr'XoTOrov  6'  ctekc  l^iKOarparoi',  opov  "Apr]0~. 

^  I.e.,  thy  father. 


S8  ELECTRA.  [563-5S7. 

companiest,  allured  thee  to  it.  Xay,  ask  the  huntress  Diana, 
in  revenge  for  Avhat  those  many  wind's  detained  them  at  Au- 
lis  ;  or  I  will  tell  thee,  for  from  her  it  is  not  allowed  thee  to 
learn.  My  father  once,  as  I  hear,  sporting  in  the  groves  of 
the  goddess,  roused  on  foot  a  dappled,  antlered  stag,  in  whose 
slaughter  exulting,  he  chanced  to  utter  some  [haughty] 
word.^  And,  thenceforth  angered,  the  maiden  daughter  of 
Latona  detained  the  Greeks,  that  my  father,  as  satisfaction 
for  the  beast,  should  offer  up  his  daughter.  Thus  was  her  sac- 
rifice ;  since  no  other  release  was  there  to  the  host,  homeward 
or  to  Troy.  On  whose  behalf,  having  been  forcefully  con- 
strained, and  having  resisted  much,  he  reluctantly  sacrificed 
her,  not  for  Menelaus's  sake.  If,  however,  for  I  Avill  state  even 
thy  plea,  wishing  to  profit  him,  he  acted  thus,  ought  he  for 
this  to  have  died  by  thy  hands  ?  By  what  right  ?  Beware,  lest 
in  ordaining  to  mankind  this  rule,  thou  ordain  thyself  woe 
and  repentance.  For  if  we  shall  slay  one  for  another,  thou, 
mark  me,  shouldst  die  the  first,  at  least  hadst  thou  thy  due. 
But  look  to  it,  lest  thou  set  up  a  plea  that  does  not  exist. 
For  tell  me,  an  thou  wilt,  in  requital  of  what  thou  happenest 
at  present  to  be  committing  deeds  the  most  infamous  possible  ; 
thou  that  couchest  with  the  assassin,  with  whom  thou  erst 

1  The  business  of  the  ancient  poets,  and,  till  very  lately,  of 
our  own,  has  constantly  been  to  inculcate  submission  to  the 
will  of  Heaven,  and  respect  for  all  things  move  immediately 
connected  with  it.  In  conformity  to  this  proposed  object,  in- 
solence to  Minerva  is  stated  by  Calcbas  to  be  the  cause  of 
Ajax's  madness;  and  the  wound  inflicted  on  Venus  by  Diomed 
leads  to  bis  expulsion  from  bis  home  by  an  unfaithful  wife; 
while  the  still  more  audacious,  because  the  more  personal,  in- 
sults to  the  deities  offered  by  Laomedon,  lay  the  towers  of  Il- 
ium, the  work  of  more  than  human  hands,  in  the  dust.  'Not 
was  the  prince  of  lyric  poets  less  religious  than  the  tragedians: 
vid.  01.  9,  56. 

Xoi^opfjaai 
BeovS'j  £X9pa  (rotpia'  Kal 
TO  KavXaaOai  -apa  Kaipov 

Mai'iaJCd'    V~OKp£K£l, 

Hence  we  see  that  it  wanted  but  little  supernatural  iufluence 
to  drive  Ajax  to  the  frenzy  with  which  be  was  afterward  pos- 


588-611.]  ELECTRA.  89 

didst  destroy  my  father,  and  hast  children  by  him  ;^  while 
thy  former  lawful  progeny,  from  lawful  lineage  sprung, 
thou  castest  out.  How  could  I  approve  of  this?  What, 
wilt  thou  say  that  this  too  is  vengeance  thou  takest  for  thy 
daughter?"^  Basely,  even  shouldst  thou  say  so  ;  for  it  is  not 
honorable  to  marry  with  enemies  for  the  sake  of  a  daughter. 
But  it  is  not  allowed  even  to  advise  thee,  thee,  that  ventest 
thy  whole  talk  of  how  I  slander  my  mother.  Nay,  I  at  least 
account  tliee  a  mistress  rather  than  a  mother  to  us,  I  that 
live  a  wearisome  life,  ever  treated  with  evil  from  thee  and  thy 
paramour  ;  while  the  other  far  away,  having  hardly  escaped 
thy  hand,  hapless  Orestes,  wears  out  a  melancholy  existence, 
wdiom  thou  hast  often  accused  me  of  bringing  up  as  an  aven- 
ger of  thy  pollution ;  and  this,  had  I  had  power,  I  had  done, 
of  this  be  well  assured.  For  this  at  least  proclaim  me  to  all, 
whether  thou  wilt  as  wicked,  or  abusive,  or  full  of  impu- 
dence ;  for  if  I  am  naturally  an  adept  in  these  practices,  I 
am  almost  no  disgrace  whatever  to  thy  nature. 

Ch.  I  see  her  breathing  rage  ;  but  whether  or  no  it  exist 
with  justice,'^  of  this  I  see  no  farther  thought. 

^  Pausanias  mentions  Eri^one.  a  daughter  of  iEgisthus,  of 
whom  Tzetzes  ad  Lycoph.  1374,  plainly  calls  Clytemnestra  the 
m  oth  er . — Her  m . 

2  Euripides  strengthens  this  plea  by  the  addition  of  another, 
which  the  ladies  will  think  more  forcible,  viz.,  that  Agamem- 
non kept  another  woman,  and  even  brought  her  into  the  house 
with  his  wife.  This  fact  is  thus  alluded  to  by  Ovid ; 
"  Dura  fuit  Atrides  una  coutentus,  et  ilia 
Casta  fuit:  vitio  est  improba  facta  viri." — Franklin. 
iEschylus  also  mentions  the  arrival  of  Cassandra  at  Argos,  and 
her  prophecies  of  her  own  and  Agamemnon's  fate.  Indeed,  the 
Grecian  chiefs  in  general  appear  to  have  so  little  observed 
conjugal  fidelity,  that  their  wives'  treachery  hardly  need  be 
referred  to  the  wrath  of  Venus,  or  any  other  deity.  Ulysses 
alone  (his  loves  with  the  goddesses  must  be  excused  on  the 
score  of  influence  beyond  human  power  to  counteract)  appears 
to  have  had  a  just  sense  (vid,  Od.  I.  433)  of  decorum  in  this 
particular,  and  accordingly  his  wife  continues  faithful  to  him 
throughout.  , 

^  Hermann  corrects  the  scholiast's  interpretation  thus:  "but 
whether  Electra  justly  harbors  anger,"  ivvean,  scil.  rcf  fihei. 


90  ELECTRA.  [612-633. 

Cly.  "SVhy,  what  thought  should  I  have  about  her  at 
least,  who  in  such  terms  hath  insulted  her  mother,  and  that 
too  at  such  an  age  ?^  What,  does  she  not  seem  to  thee  likely 
to  proceed  to  any  crime  without  shame  ? 

El.  Be  now  well  assured  that  I  feel  shame  at  all  this, 
even  though  I  seem  not  to  thee  so  to  do  ;  and  I  am  conscious 
that  I  act  as  disbecomes  both  my  age  and  myself — but  alas  ! 
for  thy  enmity  and  thy  crimes  compel  me  to  act  thus  per- 
force, since  by  the  base  are  base  deeds  taught, 

Cly.  O  shameless  creature  !  doubtless  I,  and  my  words, 
and  my  deeds  cause  thee  to  speak  a  great  deal  too  much. 

El.  Thou  speakest  them,  not  I ;  for  thou  doest  the  deed, 
and  deeds  find  themselves  words. 

Cly.  But  never,  no,  by  Queen  Diana, ^  shalt  thou  go  un- 
punished for  this  insolence,  when  ^Egisthus  shall  return.^ 

El.  Seest  thou?  thou  art  hurried  off  into  rage,  though 
having  given  me  leave  to  say  whatever  I  might  wish  ;  nor 
knowest  how  to  listen. 

Cly.  Wilt  thou  not  then  suffer  me  even  to  sacrifice  amid 
sounds  of  good  omen,*  now  that  I  have  allowed  thee  at  least 
to  say  thy  all  ? 

El.  I  suffer,  I  bid  thee,  sacrifice  ;  nor  blame  my  lips, 
since  I  will  speak  no  farther. 

^  It  is  hard  to  say  whether  this  is  meant  as  a  reproach  to 
Electra's  youth  or  maturer  age.  The  context  seems  to  inti- 
mate the  former,  but  the  probable  age  of  Orestes  the  latter. 

■^  Electra  having  in  a  former  passage  declared  that  her 
mother,  as  a  murderess  and  adulteress,  was  unfit  to  inquire 
aught  of  the  goddess  of  chastity,  by  this  oath  Clytemnestra 
means  to  contradict  her. 

^  Take  ovk  aXv^ets  here  as  equivalent  to  ovk  li^eig  a\v^tv,  and 
understand  uArftj,  not  in  a  passive  but  an  active  sense;  not 
"etfugium  ejus  qui  efi'ugitur,"  but  "eflugium  ejus  qui  eftugit." 
— Herm. 

*  Tliis  is  well  known  to  have  been  a  point  of  great  impor- 
tance among  the  Greeks.  Ulysses,  relating  the  cause  of  Philoc- 
tetes'  expulsion  from  the  army,  says, 

or'  ovTS  Xo(j8>7s  ^Atf^",  ovrs  6vndTCi)i> 
Traprji'  SKTJXoig  irpoaQiysiv,  dXX'   dypiaig 
,   Kareix    dei  rd^'  arparonsSop  6va<pr!fxtaig. — Phil.  V.  8. 

Hermann,  however,  takes  EV(pri[iov  /Sorlf  to  mean  merely  silenca 
as  in  the  CEdipus  Coloneus,  v.  132. 


634-667.]  ELECTRA.  91 

Cly.  Then  do  thou,  that  art  here  with  me,  take  up  the 
offerings  of  various  fruits,  that  to  this  king  1  may  offer  up 
vows  for  deliverance  from  the  terrors  which  now  I  feel.  Now 
mayest  thou  hear,  Apollo  our  protector,  my  concealed  ad- 
dress. For  my  speech  is  not  before  friends,  nor  suits  it  to 
unfold  all  to  light,  while  she  is  close  beside  me,  lest  with 
malice  and  babbling  clamor  she  circulate  an  idle  tale  through- 
out the  town.  ^  But  hear  me  thus,  for  thus  will  I  address 
thee.  The  apparitions  of  a  twofold  dream  that  I  have  this 
night  beheld,^  these  grant  me  accomplished,  O  Lycsean  king, 
if  propitious  to  me  they  have  appeared,  but  if  hostile,  let 
them  recoil  on  my  foes.  And  if  any  by  treachery  are  plot- 
ting to  expel  me  from  my  present  good  fortune,  permit  it 
not ;  but  grant  that  I,  ever  living  a  life  thus  unharmed,  may 
sway  the  Atrida's  palace  and  this  sceptre,  in  happy  hour 
consorting  with  those  of  my  friends  Avith  whom  I  now  con- 
sort, and  as  many  of  my  children,  as  from  whom  no  ill-will 
attaches  to  me,  nor  bitter  annoyance.  This,  O  Lyc^ean 
Apollo,  favorably  hearing,  grant  to  all  of  us,  even  as  we  ask  ; 
but  all  the  rest,  though  I  be  silent,  I  deem  thou  knowest,  as 
being  a  god.^  For  it  is  meet  that  the  race  of  Jove  sees  all 
things. 

Att.  Stranger  females,  how  might  I  surely  know  if  this 
be  the  palace  of  the  king  J^gisthus? 

Ch.  This  is,  O  stranger.  Thyself  hast  rightly  conjec- 
tured. 

Att.  And  am  I  right  in  guessing  also  that  this  is  his  wife  ? 
For  she  is  dignified  as  a  sovereign  to  look  on. 

Ch.  Most  certainly  of  all.     This  is  she,  here  before  thee. 

Att.  Hail,  O  queen.  I  come  bringing  to  thee  pleasant 
tidings,  and  to  ^Egisthus  alike,  from  a  friend. 

^  Thus  Virgil :  " Hinc  spargers  voces 

In  vulgum  ambiguas." — ^Eueid  II. 

2  "  AEaacJv,  duplicium  id  est  ambiguorum.  Sic  Lucianus  in  Alex- 
andre, p.  218:  oiTTOvT  TivaT  Kai  ayLipiSoXovT  Kal  Xo^ovS"  xP^f^f^ovT 
<7vyyaij)wvy — Bruuck,  It  may,  however,  be  an  allusion  to  the 
vision  which  iEschylus  has  related. 

2  Similarly  the  Chorus  in  (Edipus  Tyrannns  : 

'AAX'    h  fiev  oov  ZfiVS",  o  r    ' ArrdWcJv 

H-ii/erof,  Kal  ra  ^porwv 

Et(5o7-£S-.  V.  498. 


92  ELECTRA.  [668-691. 

Cly.  I  accept  the  uttered  omen.  But  first  of  all  I  vrish  to 
know  of  thee,  who  of  mankind  dispatched  thee. 

Att.  Phanoteus  the  Phocian;  forwarding  an  important 
matter. 

Cly.  Of  what  kind,  stranger?  sav ;  for  being  from  a 
friend,  I  am  well  assured  thou  wilt  speak  friendly  words. 

Att.  Orestes  is  dead  :  I  speak  compressing  it  in  brief. 

El.  Unhappy  me  !  this  day  am  I  undone. 

Cly.  What  sayest  thou,  what  sayest  thou,  stranger  ?  heed 
not  her. 

Att.  Now,  as  before,  I  declare  that  Orestes  is  dead. 

El.  Wretched  I  am  lost.     I  am  no  longer  aught. 

Cly.  Look  thou  to  thine  own  affairs ;  but  do  thou, 
stranger,  tell  me  the  truth  ;  in  what  way  perishes  he? 

Att.  And  for  this  I  was  sent,  and  I  will  tell  the  whole. 
For  he  having  come  to  the  glorious  pageant  of  games  of 
Greece,^  for  the  sake  of  Delphian  prizes,  wlien  he  heard  the 
loud  announcements  of  the  herald  proclaiming  previously 
the  race,  the  decision  of  which  comes  first,  entered  [the 
lists]  illustrious,  the  admiration  of  all  there  present  And 
having  made  the  goals  of  the  course  even  with  the  starting- 
place,^  he  went  forth,  carrying  the  all-honored  prize 
of  victory.  And  that  I  may  tell  thee  sparingly  amid 
abundance,  I  have    not    known  the  deeds  and  might  of  a 

1  The  Pythian  games  were  instituted  in  honor  of  Apollo's 
victorj-  over  the  serpent  Python,  and  are  thought  to  have  been 
at  first  confined  to  a  contest  of  musical  and  poetical  skill  in 
hymning  the  praises  of  the  victor  god.  The  6iavXo~  here  men- 
tioned was  when  the  competitors  in  the  foot-race  doubled  the 
goal,  and  returned  to  the  starting-place.  The  TrevraeXov  is 
usually  supposed  to  be  comprised  in  the  celebrated  verse — 

The  prizes  were  sacred  apples,  to  which  some  add  wreaths  of 
laurel,  or,  according  to  Ovid,  of  beech.  As  Pausanias  has 
stated,  X.  7,  3,  that  most  of  the  Pythian  rules  were  adopted  from 
the  Olympic  games,  we  find  "  the  order  of  the  course,"  StavXo-, 
first  here. 

2  See  Brunck's  note.  Hermann's  better  taste  has  rejected  so 
epigrammatic  a  prettiness  as  that  of  Antipater;  and  he  justly 
observes  that  Sophocles,  in  saying  that  Orestes  made  his  start- 
ing-place his  goal,  exactly  describes  the  6iav\o~. 


692-708.]  ELECTRA.  93 

man  like  him.  But  know  at  once  ;^  of  as  many  double 
courses  as  the  umpires  proclaimed  the  five  prizes  which 
are  customary,  of  these  obtaining  all  the  meeds  of  vic- 
tory, he  was  hailed  happy,  announced  as  an  Arrive,  by 
name  Orestes,  son  of  Agamemnon,  that  once  assembled 
the  famous  armament  of  Greece.  And  such  were  these 
events.  But  Avhen  any  god  shall  afflict  him,  not  even 
the  strong  man  could  escape.  For  he  on  the  following  day,^ 
when  at  sunrise  there  was  a  swift  contest  of  horsemanship, 
came  in  with  many  a  charioteer.  One  was  an  Achaean,  one 
from  Sparta,  two  were  Libyans  drivers  of  yoked  chariots  ; 
and  he  among  them  the  fifth,  guiding  Thessalian  steeds,  the 
sixth  from  JEtolia  with  chestnut  fillies,  the  seventh  a  Mag- 
nesian,  the  eighth,  with  white  horses,  an  ^nian  by  race,  the 
ninth  from  the  god-erected  Athens,  the  other  a  Boeotian, 
filling  up  the  tale  of  ten  chariots.^     But  having  taken  their 

1  Hermann  has  a  comma  between  Spofxcov  and  SiavXcoi',  and 
considers  what  follows  as  equivalent  to  TrevTiieXwv  li  vofxi^eTai. — 
Tr.     Dindorf  has  rightly  followed  Porson. — B. 

2  Translators  and  commentators  agree  in  considering  liWoT 
here  as  synonymous  with  Sevrepo-  (The  Latins  have  the  same 
idiom,  as  in  Cicero;  unus,  alter,  tertius);  but  as  it  is  not  certain 
how  long  the  Pythian  games  lasted,  this  appears  a  gratuitous 
assumption.     Certainly  Poppo,  in  his  note  on  Thucyd.  III.  59, 

denies  the    converse: "  provocat    enira   ad  Pind. 

Olymp.  I.  69,  ubi  postquam  Pelops  dictus  est  a  Neptuno  raptus 
atque  in  Jovis  domum  traductus  esse,  subjicitur; 

'FjV0a  Sevrcpco  xpovco 
'HXOe  Kai  TavvfifiSri?; 
Quo  in  loco  quum  scholiastfe  multas  turbas  movissent,  Gany- 
medeni  Pelope  priorem  fuisse  dicentes,  Heynius  SEVTepoy  xpovM 
positum  esse  voluit  pro  aWw  xpovM,  quod  satis  refutavit  Boeek- 
ius,  quern  vide  in  Notis  Criticis,  p.  346.  ■\evTepo~  enim  nonuisi 
ibi  usurpari  potest,  ubi  de  duobus  sermo  est,  ideoque  non  cum 
uXXor  sed  cum  irtpos-  cohseret;  a  quo  tamen  ita  difFert,  ut  trEpos- 
unum  ex  duobus  significet  sine  ulla  vel  temporis  vel  ordinis 
sive  dignitatis  notatione,  unde  unus  ille  et  prior  et  posterior 
esse  potest,  SevTcpos-  autem  nonnisi  de  posteriore  plerumque 
dicatur:"  p.  63. — Tr.  See  Liddell  and  Scott,  s.  v.  aXXos",  no. 
7.— B. 

^  Hence  we  learn  the  number  allowed  to  run  the  Pythian 
games  at  one  time. 


94  ELECTRA.  [708-737. 

stand  where  the  appointed  umpires  had  thrown  for  them  with 
lots,  and  ranged  their  chariots,  at  the  sound  of  the  brazen 
trumpet  they  started,  and  all  at  once  in  concert  cheering  on 
their  horses  shook  the  reins  in  their  hands  :  the  whole  course 
within  was  tilled  with  the  noise  of  rattling  chariots  ;^  the 
dust  was  tossed  on  high  ;  while  all  together  in  confusion  were 
sparing  nought  of  the  lash,  that  each  might  get  beyond  the 
other's  wheels,-  and  snortings  of  their  steeds,  for  the  breath- 
ings of  their  horses  were  at  once  falling  upon  and  covering 
with  foam  their  backs  and  the  circles  of  their  Avheels.  But 
he  keeping  under  the  very  last  column,^  continually  was 
wheeling  in  his  axle's  nave,  and  giving  rein  to  the  right  steed, 
held  in  the  near  horse.  And  hitherto  all  the  chariots  con- 
tinued upright ;  but  then  the  hard-mouthed  steeds  of  the 
^nian  run  away  with  him,  and  in  turning  at  the  completion 
of  the  sixth,  and  now  on  the  seventh  course,*  they  dash  their 
fronts  on  the  Barcsean  car.^  And  thenceforth,  from  a  single 
mishap,  one  was  crushing  and  tumbling  on  another,  and  the 
whole  Crisssean  plain  was  being  tilled  with  the  wrecks  of 
shattered  chariots.  But  the  skilful  charioteer  from  Athens, 
aware  of  this,  drives  by  outside  them,  and  slackens  speed, 
having  suffered  to  pass  him  the  tossing  tide  of  horses  con- 
founded in  the  centre.  But  Orestes  was  driving  the  hind- 
most,^ indeed,  but  keeping  back  his  coursers,  placing  his 
trust  in  the  i?sue.     But  the   other,  when  he  sees  him  left 

^  Qiiadrijuges  currus. — Bruuck.  "The  harnessed  car." — Pot- 
ter.    "  ZevYwrcov. — Hesychius.     ^vyc^a-co — /cAfto-w." — Musgrave. 

2  Xvoai  are  properly  the  sockets  into  which  the  axle-trees 
are  put. 

3  iaxaTT]  irrfiXri  is  the  last  in  order  of  several  coluraus  or  obe- 
lisks erected  in  the  Hippodrome,  and  does  not,  as  soDie  have 
supposed,  allude  to  the  last  turn  round  the  goal.  See  Her- 
mann's dissertation  on  the  words  used  by  the  Greeks  to  express 
the  niovemeuts  of  horses,  Beckii  Comm.  Soc.  Phil.  vol.  i.  part 
i.  p.  49,  and  Bulenger  de  Circo  Eom.  c.  29,  in  Grsevius,  The- 
saur.  Ant.  Eom.  t.  9. 

*  Hermann  understands  'iTrn-oi  here,  agreeing  with  the  mascu- 
line rc\ovi'r£~. 

5  This  is  an  anachronism.     V.  Herod,  iv.  160. 

*>  Monk  translates  this,  "Now  Orestes  drove  the  last  to  be 
sure,  but  keeping  his  horses  back,  as  he  placed  his  confidence 
in  the  end  of  the  race." 


738-766.]  ELECTRA.  95 

alone,  ^  having  cracked  in  the  ears  of  his  swift  mares  the 
shrill  sound  of  his  whip,  pursues  him  ;  and  having  brought 
their  poles  in  line,  they  were  driving,  now  one,  and  then 
the  other,  pushing  forward  the  heads  of  their  chariot 
horses.  And  all  the  other  courses  in  safety  the  hapless 
youth  drove  erect  in  his  car  upright  ;  but  then,  slacken- 
ing tlie  left  rein  of  his  wlieeling  horse,  he  unawares  strikes 
the  pillar's  edge,^  and  breaks  the  middle  axle-nave,  is 
tumbled  from  his  chariot,  and  entangled  in  his  reins, 
while  on  his  falling  to  the  ground  his  steeds  were  dispersed 
over  the  middle  of  the  course.  But  the  assembly,  when  it 
perceives  him  thrown  out  of  his  seat,  shrieked  aloud  over 
the  youth,  that,  after  having  done  such  deeds,  he  meets 
with  such  a  disaster,  Avhirled  along  on  the  ground,  and  then 
again  tossing  up  his  limbs  to  heaven :  until  the  charioteers 
having  with  difficulty  stopped  the  horses'  speed,  released 
him,  all  bloody,  so  that  none  of  his  friends  by  looking  on 
him  could  have  recognized  his  hapless  person.  And  having 
forthwith  burned  him  on  the  pyre,  in  a  little  brazen  urn  a 
huge  body  of  melancholy  ashes^  are  appointed  men  of 
Phocis  bringing,  that  he  may  inherit  a  tomb  in  his  father's 
land.  Such,  look  you,  are  these  tidings,  as  in  story  told,^ 
piteous,  but  to  us  eye-witnesses  that  saw  it,  the  greatest  of 
all  misfortunes  that  I  ever  beheld. 

Ch.  Alas  !  alas  !  It  seems  then  the  whole  race  of  our  for- 
mer lords  from  its  very  roots  has  perished. 

Cly.  O  Jove,  whether  shall  I  call  these  news  fortunate? 

^  ''The  scholiasts  do  not  state  whom  they  understand  to  be 
meant  by  6'  dk  and  viv  respectively.  Later  interpreters  refer  the 
former  to  Orestes,  the  latter  to  the  Athenian  ;  but  in  that  case 
one  would  have  expected  eksTvov  rather  than  viv,  which  last 
must  apply  to  the  principal  subject  of  discourse;  and  that  sub- 
ject is  Orestes." — Herni. 

-  As  his  other  instructions  agree  with  the  plan  pursued  by 
Orestes,  so  this  is  the  accident  against  which  Nestor  particu- 
larly warns  Autilochus,  II.  xxiii.  v.  334. 

^  Thus  Hermann,  rejecting  both  Brunck's  idea  of  antiptosis 
and  Schaefer's  construction  of  va>fw  otzoSov. 

*  Similarly  the  messenger  in  CEdipus  Tyranuus,  v.  1237: 
TMV  6i  TrpaxOsvTCJv  ra  [jlev 
aXyicyT  aireaTiv'  ff  yap  oxpi^  ov  irapa. 


96  ELECTRA.  [767-796. 

or  terrible,  yet  gainful  ?  yet  'tis  a  painful  case,  if  by  mine 
own  ills  I  save  my  life. 

Att.  But  "Nvliy,  lady,  art  thou  so  dispirited  at  my  present 
words  ? 

Cly.  'Tis  a  dreadful  thing  to  be  a  mother  ;  for  not  even 
to  the  ill-treated  does  hatred  to  those  she  has  born  attach. 

Att.  It  seems  then  we  are  come  in  vain. 

Cly.  Xo,  believe  me,  not  in  vain  at  least  ;  for  how  couldst 
thou  tell  me  in  vain?  if  thou  camest  possessing  sure  proofs 
of  his  death,  who  born  of  my  life,  an  alien  from  my  breast 
and  nurture,  estranged  himself  in  exile,  and  since  he  quitted 
this  land  never  beheld  me,  but  laying  to  my  charge  his 
father's  murder,  Avas  ever  threatening  to  perform  dreadful 
deeds,  so  that  neither  by  night  nor  by  day  did  sweet  sleep 
overshadow  me  ;  but  progressing  time  ever  led  me  on  as 
doomed  to  die.  Xow,  however  (for  on  this  day  am  I  re- 
leased from  alarm  at  her  hands  and  his,  since  she  the  greater 
pest  was  living  with  me,  ever  drinking  up  my  pure  life's 
blood),  now  haply  shall  we  pass  our  days  in  quiet,  as  far  as 
relates  to  her  threats.^ 

El.  Ah  me,  unhappy  !  for  now  'tis  mine  to  Avail,  Orestes, 
thy  misfortune,  that  thus  conditioned  thou  art  insulted  by 
this  thy  mother  :  is  this  well  ? 

Cly.  Not  with  thee,  be  sure  ;  but  he,  as  he  is,  is  well. 

El.  Hear,  avenging  spirit  of  the  lately  dead.^ 

Cly.  It  hath  heard  Avhom  it  ought,  and  well  fulfilled  the 
prayer. 

El.  Be  insolent ;  for  now  thy  lot  is  prosperity. 

Cly.  So  shall  not  Orestes  and  thou  repress  it. 

El.  We  have  been  put  down  ourselves,  on  fear  that  we 
shall  put  thee  down. 

1  "Male  Bruckius  (^' post  vdv  delevit,  quod  repeti  post  paren- 
thesiu  notavi  ad  Vigerum,  p.  847.  Compare  ^Esch.  Choeph. 
621-629."— Herm. 

-  Nemesis,  daughter  of  Nox,  and  by  some  supposed  to  be  the 
same  with  Leda,  was  intrusted  with  the  care  of  avenging  all 
manner  of  impieties,  but  especially  those  committed  against 
the  dead.  It  was  in  this  latter  character  that  Adrastus,  in  his 
second  expedition  to  Thebes,  to  avenge  the  refu^^al  of  burial  to 
his  son-in-law  Polynices,  erected  a  temple  to  her.  The  Greeks 
also  celebrated  a  feast  in  her  honor,  called  Xemesia. 


797-826.]  ELECTRA.  97 

Cly.  Thoii  wonldst  become  deserving  of  many  things, 
stranger,  liadst  thou  checked  her  babbling  clamor.^' 

Att.  I  would  be  gone  then,  if  this  be  well. 

Ci.Y.  By  no  means  ;  since  thou  wouldst  be  about  to  act  in 
a  manner  worthy  neither  me  nor  the  friend  that  sent  thee. 
But  go  ye  within,  and  leave  her  to  lament  from  without 
both  her  own  and  her  friend's  calamities. 

El.  And  does  the  wretched  woman  seem  to  you,  as  griev- 
ing and  in  pain,  bitterly  to  weep  and  wail  over  her  son  thus 
perished?  No,  in  derision  is  she  gone.  O  unhappy  me  ! 
Dearest  Orestes,  how  by  thy  death  hast  thou  undone  me  !  for 
thou  art  gone,  and  hast  torn  from  my  heart  the  only  hopes 
that  yet  remained  to  me,  that  thou  wouldst  one  day  come  a 
living  avenger  of  my  father  and  of  me  ill-fated.  But  now 
whither  must  I  go?  for  I  am  lonely,  bereft  of  both  thee  and 
my  father.  Now  must  I  again  be  a  slave  to  those  among 
men  most  hateful  to  me,  the  murderers  of  my  sire.  And  is 
this  well  with  me  ?  But  no,  never  again  hereafter  will  I  be 
their  co-mate,^  but  at  this  gate  having  thrown  myself  along, 
friendless  will  I  wither  away  life.  Wherefore,  let  any  of 
those  within  slay  me,  if  he  be  offended,  since  'tis  j)leasure  if 
I  die,  pain  if  I  live,  and  for  life  I  have  no  wish. 

Ch.  Where  can  be  the  thunderbolts  of  Jove,"^  or  where 
the  beaming  sun,  if  looking  on  these  things  they  silently 
hide  ?* 

^  Hermann  refers  to  Matth.  Gr  Gr.  §  524,  for  the  construc- 
tion of  this  passage,  defending  the  common  reading  against 
Monk's  remarks  in  Mus.  Grit. 

'^  Brunck's  reading  IWo/^'  is  an  elision  unknown  to  the  tragic 
dialogue  IvfoiKos-  eaofxai  may  be  read,  according  to  Hermann, 
with  a  hiatus :  he  himself  reads  el'ffei^i'  ;  Monk  and  others, 
eaofiai  ^vpoikos-.  "  Sed  transponendi  ratio,  hodie  est  instar  acidi 
cultri  in  manibus  j^iceronim." — Herm. — Tk.    But  Dindorf  retains 

iaaoi.C. — B. 

3  "  These  four  lines  must  be  restored  to  the  Chorus,  whose 
claim  to  theiu  is  irrefragable.  They  insinuate  a  ground  of  hope 
for  Electra,  to  which  she  alludes  in  v.  833.  The  exclamations 
in  V.  827  are  Electra's."— Mus.  Grit.  i.  204. 

*  This  word  is  with  peculiar  fitness  applied  to  the  sun ; 
Aeivov  yap  dsov   a'lSs  /3o£r  Kal  lipia  /*»7Aa, 
'HeXtou,  5r  TTOLVT   E(popd  Kal  iravr   inaKovEi. 

Od.  xii.  322. 


98  ELECTRA.  [827-852. 

El.  O  !  O  !  alas  !  alas  ! 

Ch.   My  child,  why  weepest  tlioii  ? 

El,.  Alas  ! 

Ch.  Sob  not  thus  violently. 

El.  Thou  wilt  kill  me. 

Ch.  How? 

El.  If  thou  shalt  suggest  a  hope  for  those  who  have  man:-«, 
festly  sunk  into  the  grave,  thou  wilt  the  rather  trample  oi\> 
me  wasting  away. 

Ch.  I  did  it,  for  that  I  know  that  royal  Amphiaraus  was 
ensnared  by  stealth  in  the  golden-wreathed  fetters  of  a  wo- 
man,^ and  now  beneath  the  earth — 

El.  O  !  alas  !  alas  !^ 

Ch.  Immortal  he  reigns. 

El.  Alas  ! 

Ch,  Alas,  indeed  !  for  she  deathful — 

El.  Was  over-mastered  ? 

Ch.  Yes. 

El.  I  know  it ;  I  know  it ;  for  a  careful  friend  arose  to  him 
in  sorrow  ;  but  to  me  there  is  no  longer  any,  for  he  who  yet 
existed  is  torn  away  and  gone. 

Ch.  Wretched,  thou  hast  a  wretched  fate. 

El.  I  too  am  conscious,  too  conscious  of  this  by  a  life 
which  every  month  sweeps  in  a  mass  of  many  things  griev- 
ous and  detestable.^ 

1  The  story  of  Amphiaraus  bears  a  resemblance  to  that  of 
Agamemnon.  He  was  the  son  of  Oiclens,  and  the  greatest 
soothsayer  of  his  time.  Foreseeing  the  fatal  issue  of  the  The- 
bau  war,  he  would  have  declined  assisting  Polynices,  and  hid 
himself  for  some  time,  but  was  betrayed  by  his  wife  Eripliyle, 
whom  Polynices  had  bribed  with  a  golden  necklace,  and  who, 
like  Clytemuestra,  fell  by  her  sou's  hand.  Although  Homer 
has  assigned  the  chief  place  among  deceased  prophets  to  Tire- 
sias,  it  is  certain  that  high  honors  were  paid  to  Amphiaraus 
after  death,  at  Oropus  in  Attica,  where  he  had  a  temple. — Tr. 
So  'iiaf  is  applied  to  Tiresias  in  (Ed.  Tyr.  304.  On  Ampliiaraus 
cf.  Pindar  01.  VI.  21.  Apollodor.  III.  6,2.  His  oracle  is  men-  " 
tioued  by  Cicero  de  Div.  I.  40.  Minutius  Felix,  Oct.  i^  26. 
Athenagoras,  legat.  p.  139. — B. 

■^  If  Hermann's  reading,  aicjiu,  be  here  adopted  for  axhou  (as 
rzannnvto  -avavprw  can  uot  well  stand  for  substantives,  if  without 
the  article),  the  reader  may  compare  Hermann's  explanation, 


S53-887.]  ELECTRA.  99 

Ch.  We  know  all  that  thou  bewailest. 

El.  Jso  more,  no  more  now  mislead  me,  where  no  more^ — 

Ch.  What  sayest  thou  ? 

El.  Are  present  the  aids  of  hopes  of  kindred  blood  and 
high  ancestry.''^ 

Ch.  Death  is  natural  to  all  mankind. 

El.  What,  and  in  the  rivalry  of  swift  steeds  thus  to  be  en- 
tangled in  the  reins,  like  him  wretched  ? 

Ch.  The  misfortune  is  inconceivable.  ^ 

El.  How  should  it  not  ?  if  in  a  foreign  land  without  my 
hands — 

Ch.  O  heavens ! 

El.  He  was  inured,  having  met  with  neither  sepulture 
nor  dirge  from  us. 

Chr.  With  joy,  my  best  beloved,  I  speed  me  hither,^  dis- 
missing decorum,  to  hasten  witli  alacrity  ;  for  I  bring  both 
joys  and  respite  from  the  ills  which  before  now  thou  didst 
cherish  and  sigh  over. 

El.  But  hence  couldst  thou  discover  a  consolation  of  my 
troubles,  a  remedy  whereof  it  is  impossible  to  find  ? 

Che,.  Our  Orestes  is  at  hand,  be  sure  of  this,  hearing  it  of 
me,  as  certainly  as  thou  lookest  on  me. 

El.  What  !  art  thou  frantic,  wretch,  and  mockest  thine 
own  woes  and  mine  ? 

Chr.  No,  by  my  father's  hearth,  I  speak  not  this  in  insult, 
but  that  he  is  at  hand  to  us. 

El.  Ah  me !  unhappy  !  and  from  whom  of  men  hearing 
this  tale,  believest  thou  this  fondly  ? 

Chr.  From  myself  and  none  else,  having  seen  sure  proofs, 
I  believe  this  tale. 

El.   What  proof  having  beheld,  unhappy  girl !  looking  on 

Trdpai'pTO~  TTiwi  nrjai,  with  Thucyd.  2,  44,  €v£v6aii.iovfj(Tai  re    Kal    ivre- 
Xevrfja-aL  tov  fiiov. 

1  Johnson,  and  after  him  Brunck,  unaccountably  translates 
the  word  irapaYdyijr  by  soleris,  to  which  Mnsgrave  with  reason 
objects,  and  renders  it  demulceas  verbis,  decipias. 

2  dpcoyai,  Hermann,  from  the  scholiast. 

3  Much  of  the  beauty  of  this  scene  is  lost  to  us  in  the  closet; 
on  the  stage  its  effect  must  have  been  wonderful. 


loo  ELECTRA.  [888-906, 

what,  say,  art  thou  heated  with  this  fever  of  the  soul  past 
cure  ?^ 

Chr.  Now,  by  the  gods,  listen,  that,  having  learned  of 
me,  thou  mayest  call  me  henceforth  either  sensible  or 
senseless. 

El.  Nay,  then,  do  thou  say  on,  if  thou  in  speaking  hast 
any  pleasure. 

Chr.  Well  then,  I  tell  thee  all  that  I  behold.  For  when 
I  came  to  my  father's  ancient  tomb,  I  see  from  the  top  of  the 
mound  fresh-running  streams  of  milk,  and  my  sire's  grave 
garlanded  all  around  Avith  every  flower  that  grows.  But 
having  seen  this  I  began  to  feel  wonder,  and  gaze  around, 
lest  haply  any  mortal  be  stealing  close  upon  me.  But  when 
I  saw  the  whole  spot  tranquil,  I  crept  nearer  the  tomb,  and 
at  the  edge  of  the  pile  I  discern  a  fresh-cropped  lock  of 
hair.^  And  the  instant  I  hapless  discovered  it,  an  accus- 
tomed fancy  strikes  upon  my  soul,  that  I  was  looking  on  this 
a  memorial  of  Orestes,  the  dearest  of  mankind,  and  raising 
it  in  my  hands,  I  speak  not  words  of  ill  omen,  but  for  joy 
have  mine  eyes  filled  instantly  with  tears. ^  And  now,  too, 
equally  as  then,  I  am  sure  that  this  ornament  could  come 

1  The  same  epithet  is  applied  to  the  madness  of  Ajax: 

"  'Eyoj  (T(p  'd~sipyco,  ^vatpopovg  ctt  o^iiaaL 
Tviojiag  ^aXovaa,  rrig  avriKEarov  X^P^sJ^ — V.  51. 

2  Scbaefer  conjectured  ~^^pa.  Retain  the  genitive  and  join  it 
with  op'o,  a  snmmo  tuinulo  conspicio  cincinnum,  according  to  the 
Greek  fashion  of  measurement,  not  from  the  spectator  to  the 
object  seen,  but  the  reverse.     See  also  v.  8S2. — Herm. 

^  Briiuck  translates  this,  rocem  quidem  compressi,  evidently 
considering  oo  ^vapnp'-^  as  equivalent  to  £1"/>??a«w  in  its  second 
sense.     Bat  Potter,  with  greater  reason  gives  it  thus  : 

"  And  from  mine  eyes  gushed  tears  ;  account  not  these 
Omens  of  ill,  for  they  were  tears  of  joy.*' 
Chrysothemis,  with  the  natural  anxiety  of  a  Greek  bringing 
good  tidings,  explains  away  a  circumstance  which  might  change 
their  nature,  even  before  she  states  what  that  circumstance 
was.  But  that  it  was  considered  in  general  of  ill  omen,  we 
learn  from  Homer.  Od.  B.  XX.— Tr.  Apuleius  Met.  p.  107,  ed. 
Elm.:  "  ut  lacrymse  ssepicnle  de  gaudio  prodeunt,  ita  et  in  illo 
nimio  pavore  risum  nequivi  continere." — B. 


907-94I-]  ELECTRA.  loi 

from  none  but  him.  For  to  whom  is  this  a  natural  duty, 
save  at  least  to  thee  and  me  ?  And  I  did  it  not,  this  I  well 
know,  nor  again  didst  thou.  For  liow  shouldst  thou,  to  whom 
at  least  it  is  not  permitted  with  impunity  to  quit  this  roof 
even  to  [worship]  the  gods?  But  of  my  mother,  too,  neither 
is  the  spirit  wont  to  act  thus,  nor  had  she  done  it  unobserved  : 
no,  these  marks  of  respect  are  from  Orestes.  Come,  my  dear 
sister,  take  courage.  To  the  same  persons  the  selfsame 
genius  is  not  always  present.  But  ours  was  ere  now  detest- 
able, yet  haply  the  present  day  will  be  the  confirmation  of 
many  good  things. 

El.  Alas  !  how  do  I  long  since  pity  thee  for  thy  infatua- 
tion ! 

Chr.  But  what  is  it?   do  I  not  speak  this  to  thy  delight? 

El.  Thou  knowest  neither  whither  on  earth  nor  whither 
in  thought  thou  art  hurried. 

Chr.  But  how  know  I  not  that  at  least  which  I  saw 
plainly  ? 

El.' He  is  dead,  miserable  woman  ;  and  all  protection  to 
thee  from  him  is  vanished  ;  look  not  to  him  at  least. 

Chr.  Unhappy  me  !  from  whom  of  men  hast  thou  heard 
this? 

El.  From  one  who  was  near  at  hand  when  he  perished. 

Chr.  And  where  is  this  man?  amazement  comes  over  me. 

El.   Within,  acceptable,  and  not  displeasing  to  my  mother. 

Chr.  Unhappy  me !  and  from  whom  among  men  could 
have  been  the  many  funeral  offerings  at  my  father's  tomb? 

El.  I  am  most  led  to  believe  that  some  one  placed  them 
there  as  memorials  of  the  deceased  Orestes. 

Chr.  Ah  ill-fortuned  !  while  with  joy  I  bringing  such  a 
tale  was  hastening,  not  knowing,  I  am  sure,  in  what  woe  we 
were  plunged  !^  But  now,  when  I  have  come,  I  find  the 
previously-existing  evils,  and  fresh  ones  also. 

El.  Thus  it  is  with  thee  ;  but  if  thou  wilt  be  persuaded 
by  me,  thou  slialt  lighten  the  weight  of  thy  present  affliction. 

Chr.   What,  shall  I  ever  raise  the  dead  ? 

El.  That  at  least  is  not  what  I  said,  for  I  was  not  born 
so  senseless. 

1  Aprt  est  ergo,  quod  hie  in  media  oratione  cum  dolore  addi- 
tum. — Herm.  ad  Aj.  1005. 


102  ELECTRA.  [942-969. 

Chr.  "What  then  dost  thou  require,  to  which  I  can  pledge 
myself  ? 

El.  That  thou  take  heart  to  execute  what  I  shall  advise. 

Chr.  Nay,  if  there  be  any  profit  in  it  at  least,  I  will  not 
reject  it  from  me. 

El.  Observe,  without  trouble,  be  sure,  nothing  is  success- 
ful. 

Chr.  I  do  observe.  I  will  lend  aid  in  all  whereunto  I 
have  strength. 

El.  Hear  then  now,  in  what  way  I  have  planned  to  efPect 
it.  Thou  too  art  surely  aware  that  present  countenance  of 
friends  there  is  none  to  us,  but  Hades  has  taken  and  deprived 
us  of  them,  and  we  are  left  alone. ^  I  at  least,  while  I  heard 
that  my  brother  was  flourishing  in  life,  maintained  hopes  that 
he  would  one  day  come  as  avenger  of  my  father's  murder;''' 
but  now,  since  he  is  no  more,  I  therefore  turn  to  thee,  that 
with  me  thy  sister  thou  wilt  not  be  reluctant  to  slay  the  per- 
petrator of  our  father's  murder,  ^gisthus.  Fori  must  con- 
ceal nought  from  thee  any  longer.  Since  how  long  wilt  thou 
continue  slothful?  with  a  view  to  what  farther  rational  hope? 
who  hast  cause  to  sigh  being  deprived  of  the  possessing  of 
thy  sire's  wealth,  and  cause  to  sorrow,  so  long  a  time  growing 
old  unwedded  and  unbetrothed.  And  do  not  any  longer 
hope  that  you  will  ever  obtain  these  things.  For  ^Egisthus 
is  not  so  imprudent  a  man  as  ever  to  suffer  thy  progeny  or 
mine  to  spring  up,  an  evident  annoyance  to  himself.'^  But  if 
thou  be  induced  by  my  counsels,  first  thou  wilt  reap  the 
praise  of  piety  from  thy  father  in  the  grave,  and  also  from 

1  Hermann  here  defends  the  first  person  dual  against  Elms- 
ley  and  Monk  ;  it  is  found  once  only  in  Homer,  II.  "*.  485,  where 
Elmsley  proposed  to  read  -a-epiS'^ixsae',  once  besides  this  place  in 
Sophocles,  at  Phil.  1079,  where  also  Hermann  has  retained  the 
dual; 

"  Observa,  ^Egistho,  non  etiam  matri,  necem  parare  Elec- 
tram." — H. 

^  np«f~wp  is  properly  the  exacterof  retribution. 

^  ThuC.  III.  40.  MdXiffra  St  ol  jxf]  ^vv  Tzpo(pd(j£i  riva  KaKa~  -oiovv- 
TC~  e-£^LpxovTai  Kal  SioWvvrai,  roi/   k'ivSvvov  vtpopto^ei'Oi   tov  v-oXEiTrope- 

10'  exdpov,  "Non  putem  respexisse  Sophoclem  versum  par«- 
miacum  vn-io~  or  Trarkpa  ktclvu-  -alcas"  KaraXei-oi,  ut  Schaefero 
videbatur  in  Melet.  Crit.  p.  123." — Herm. 


970-IOOO.]  ELECTRA.  103 

thy  brother,  and  then  as  thou  wast  born,  thou  wilt  be  called 
hereafter  free,  and  wilt  gain  thyself  a  worthy  marriage.  For 
every  one  is  wont  to  have  regard  to  what  is  virtuous.  But 
in  the  report  at  least  seest  thou  not  what  high  renown  thou 
wilt  attach  to  thyself  and  to  me  by  being  persuaded  by  me? 
For  who  of  townsmen  or  strangers  beholding  us  will  not 
welcome  us  with  applauses  such  as  these ?  "Behold,  friends, 
these  two  sisters,  that  saved  their  father's  house,  that  of  their 
lives  unsparing,  took  the  lead  in  slaying  their  foes  who  once 
were  high  in  station ;  these  ought  we  to  love,  these  ought  all 
to  venerate,  these  all  to  honor,  both  at  the  festivals  and  in 
the  states'  popular  assemblies,  in  reward  of  their  courage."^ 
Thus,  be  sure,  will  every  man  proclaim  of  us,  that  glory  shall 
fail  us  not,  alive  or  dead.  But,  my  beloved,  be  persuaded, 
join  in  toiling  for  thy  father's  sake,  in  laboring  for  thy 
brother's,  respite  me  from  misery,  respite  thyself,  being 
assured  of  this,  that  "basely  to  live  is  base  for  the  nobly 
born. ' ' 

Ch.  In  words  like  these  precaution  is  a  help  both  to  the 
speaker  and  hearer. 

Che,.  Yet  before  she  spake,  ladies,  had  she  chanced  to  be 
other  than  perverse  of  thought,  she  had  preserved  that  cau- 
tion, even  as  she  doth  not  preserve  it.  For  whither  possibly 
turning  thine  eyes,  art  thou  at  once  arming  thyself  with  such 
daring,  and  callest  on  me  to  support  thee?  Seest  thou  not? 
thou  wert  born  a  woman,  and  no  man,  and  art  in  power  less 
strong  than  thine  opponents.  But  to  them  is  destiny  daily 
propitious,  while  to  us  it  is  retrograde,  and  comes  to  nought.'^ 

1  "  Notwithstanding  the  decent  reserveduess  of  female  man- 
ners in  ancient  Greece,  the  virgins  were  not  only  allowed  to  be 
present  at  certain  religious  solemnities,  but  their  attendance  was 
necessary;  they  formed  a  distinguished  part  in  the  sacred  pro- 
cessions, and  were  led  ])y  some  virgin  of  the  highest  rank." — 
Potter.  In  Spain,  where  the  strictness  of  female  confinement 
outdoes  even  that  of  ancient  Greece,  the  same  license  is  al- 
lowed on  the  festivals  of  particular  saints. 

'^  The  dsemou,  which  in  Socrates  supplied  the  office  of  com- 
mon sense,  was  considered  by  the  ancients  as  a  beiuii  of  an  in- 
termediate order  between  God  and  man;  being  synonymous 
with  the  genii  (perhaps  originally  with  the  giants),  and  there- 
fore sprung  from  earth  (y>))  previously  to  the  creation  of  man; 


104  ELECTRA.  [1001-1028. 

Who  then,  plotting  to  ensnare  such  a  man,  shall  be  let  off 
nnpained  by  calamity  ?  Beware  lest  faring  badly  we  work 
ourselves  weightier  evils,  if  any  one  shall  hear  these  words. 
For  it  neither  profits  nor  assists  us  aught,  having  gained  an 
honorable  fame,  to  perish  with  infamy  ;  for  'tis  not  death 
that  is  most  hateful,  but  when  one  longing  to  die  then  have 
not  power  to  obtain  it.  But  I  conjure  thee,  ere  we  perish 
utterly  in  complete  destruction,  and  desolate  our  race,  re- 
press thy  passion.  And  what  has  been  said  I  Avill  preserve 
for  thee,  undivulged  as  ineffectual ;  but  do  thou  thyself  at 
least  after  so  long  a  time  take  thought,  since  thou  hast  no 
power  to  submit  to  thy  superiors.^ 

Ch.  Be  persuaded.  There  exists  not  to  man  a  profit  more 
desirable  to  gain  than  forethought  and  wisdom  of  mind. 

El.  Thou  hast  said  nothing  unlooked  for ;  nay,  I  well 
knew  thou  wouldst  reject  what  I  proposed.  But  by  me  alone 
and  single-handed  must  this  deed  be  done  ;  for  positively  I 
will  not  leave  it  unassayed  at  least. 

Chr.  Alas  !  would  thou  had  been  such  in  spirit  when  our 
father  fell  ;  for  thou  wouldst  have  accomplished  all. 

El.  Nay,  I  was  naturally  at  least  such,  but  at  that  time 
of  weaker  judgment. 

Chr.  Practice  to  continue  such  in  mind  throughout  life. 

El.  As  not  purposing  to  co-operate  with  me  thou  advisest 
thus. 

Chr.  Yes,  for  it  is  likely  that  one  who  takes  in  hand  to 
work  ill  will  fare  ill. 

El.  I  envy  thee  thy  prudence,  but  abhor  thy  cowardice. 

Chr.  I  fain  must  hear  you,  even  when  thou  shalt  com- 
mend me.^ 

they  were  supposed  to  control  by  their  influence  the  fortunes 
of  the  human  race,  each  of  which  had  his  particular  guardian 
power,  who  knew  {^.a)inMv)  all  his  actions,  and  furthered  or  pre- 
vented his  purposes.  From  this  probably  was  modified  the 
Eosicrucian  system. — Tr.  These  remarks  are  misapplied.  Xo 
allusion  to  guardian  genii  is  intended,  and  Sai^uov,  as  almost 
every  where  in  the  Tragedians,  means  fortune. — B. 

1  'AAX'  evvoeXv  XP^   tovto  fitv,  yvvalx    on 
^''E(Pvi_iei>,  cor  Trpdr  livSpaS'  ov   ftaxovfiiva' 

'Fj-rretTa  (5'  ovvek'  apxoiiCaO'  Ik  KpeiaaovMv. — Ant.  V.  61. 

2  Schol.  '^(Trai.  Kaipds-  ore  /t£  eviprinnaeiT.     Potter  makes  the  sen- 


1029-1045.]  ELECTRA,  105 

El.  But  think  not  from  me  at  least  tlion  shalt  ever  meet 
with  this. 

Chr.  Nay,  future  time  is  long  enough  to  decide  on  this. 

El.  Away,  for  there  is  in  thee  no  help. 

Chr.  There  is,  but  thou  hast  not  docility  to  learn  it. 

El.  Go  and  disclose  all  this  to  thy  mother. 

Chr.  Nay,  I  hate  thee  not  with  so  great  hatred. 

El.  Well,  then,  think  at  least  to  what  infamy  thou  art 
leading  me.^ 

Chr.  Not  infamy,  but  forethought  for  thyself. 

El.  What  !  must  I  then  follow  thine  idea  of  justice  ? 

Chr.  Yes  ;  for  when  thou  art  in  thy  right  mind,  then 
shalt  thou  lead  me. 

El.  Truly  'tis  hard,  that  one  who  speaks  so  well  should 
err. 

Chr.  Thou  hast  rightly  stated  the  evil  in  which  thou  art 
implicated. 

El.  But  how?  do  I  not  seem  to  thee  to  say  this  with  jus- 
tice? 

Chr.  Yet  there  are  cases  where  justice  causes  injury. 

El.  By  these  rules  I  choose  not  to  live. 

Chr.  Yet  if  thou  shalt  so  act,  thou  wilt  commend  me.^ 

El.  Yet  will  I  do  it  at  all  events,  no  ways  frightened  by 
thee. 

tence  break  off  abruptly,  which  seems  contrary  to  the  practice 
of  the  Greek  poets,  the  conuection  being  nowhere  afterward 
resumed.  Hermann  translates  it  thus:  "Oportebit  me  audire 
te  etiam  laudantem  mores  meos."  Monk,  "  Sustinebote  audire, 
etiamsi  mutas  ovationem  et  probas  mores  meos." 
>  But  Hermann,  "Eeferuntur  bsec  ad   prsecedentia  ut  plena 

oratio  sit,  «AX'  ovv   ETrt'oro)  y'  kxOaipovaa  oi  jx'   dTiixia~  ayeiT  ;  at  sane 

te  scias  me  ocUsse  pro  eo  gradn  contemtxis,  ad  quern  usque  usque  me 
despicis.''^  Brunck's  explanation  be  terms  all  but  unin- 
telligible.— Tr.  Bruuck  seems  right.  Electra  complains 
that  her  sister,  by  not  aiding  in  her  plans  of  revenging 
her  father's  death,  exposed  her  to  tbe  disgrace  of  seeming  back- 
ward in  such  a  cause. — B. 

'^  That  is,  ''Having  made  the  attempt  you  intend,  in  the 
hour  of  punishment  (or  failure)  you  will  too  late  commend  my 
prudence  in  declining  to  aid  you."  That  this  meaning  must 
be  given  to  tbe  sentence  is  evident  from  Electra's  answer. — See 
also  V.  1056. 

5* 


lo6  ELECTRA.  [1046-1076. 

Chr.  And  is  this  certain,  and  wilt  thou  not  re-deliberate  ? 

El,  Xo,  for  nothing  is  more  detestable  than  base  delib- 
eration. 

Chr.   Methinks  thou  givest  not  a  thought  to  aught  I  say. 

El.  Long  since,  and  not  lately,  hath  this  been  resolved 
on  by  me. 

Chr.  Then  I  will  be  gone,  for  neither  canst  thou  endure 
to  approve  of  my  words,  nor  I  of  thy  conduct. 

El.  But  go  in  ;  for  think  not  I  shall  ever  follow  thee, 
not  even  if  thou  chancedst  to  be  very  desirous,  since  even 
the  pursuit  of  shadows  is  the  part  of  great  folly. 

Chr.  But  if  haply  thou  seemest  to  thyself  to  possess  any 
sense,  show  your  sense  thus  ;  for  when  now  thou  shalt  have 
set  thy  foot  into  troubles,  thou  wilt  approve  of  my  words. 

Ch.  Why,  beholding  the  birds  of  air,  most  feeling,  busied 
in  providing  support  for  both  those  from  whom  they  have 
sprung,  and  those  from  Avhom  they  have  derived  benefit,  do 
we  not  equally  practice  this?^  But  no,  by  Jove's  lightning 
and  iieavenly  Themis,  long  will  they  not  be  unpunished.'^  O 
rumor  of  mankind  that  piercest  earth,  echo  for  me  downward 
a  lamentable  cry  to  the  A tridje  beneath,  fraught  with  joyless 
disgrace  :  that  now  their  domestic  affairs  are  distempered, 
and  that  as  concerns  their  children,  a  discordant  strife  no 
longer  suffers  them  to  meet  in  affectionate  intercourse  ;  but 
abandoned,  alone,  sad  Electra  is  agitated,  ever  sighing  for  a 

1  Alluding  to  the  filial  affection  of  the  stork,  and  that  bird 
only,  as  is  evident  from  the  Birds  of  Aristophanes; 

AAX  £(TTiv  r^iiip  roiaiv  opviaiv  v6^o~ 
TraAatd",  iv  rolsr  ruiv  TzeXapycov  Kvp(ii<nv' 
ETrfjv  b  -arrip  b  TrsXapydr  eKTrErrjaifiovT 
—di'Ta~  Troiijar]  rov~  TTeXapyibetT  Tpecpcov, 
Sel   rov~  vsorrov?'  rov  Tvartpa  rraXiv  rptBtiv. 

Aw.  V.  1353. 
The  rest  of  the  feathered  race  are  represented  as  killing  their 
parents,  which  circurustance    indeed  brings    the  parricide  to 
cloudcuckooburgh. 

2  "  Quod  Moukio  placet,  hoc  dici  scilicet  at  punientur  Uberi  qui 
hoc  officium  negligioit,  id  quum  propter  graven  illam  Jovis  et 
Themidis  obtestationem,  quse  frigida  foret  in  tali  sententia,  non 
est  verisimile,  tum  etiam  propter  (^apof,  quod  nisi  ad  (Egisthum 
et  Clytemnestram  spectaret,  plane  esset  supervacaueum." — 
Herm. 


1077-1105.]  ELECTRA.  107 

father,  like  the  all-sorrowing  nightingale,  now  utterly  care- 
less of  death,  nay,  ready  to  quit  the  light,  when  she  has  de- 
stroyed the  twin  Fury.  Who  ever  so  noble  could  have 
arisen  7^  No  one  of  noble  state,  in  adversity,  is  willing 
nameless  to  debase  its  high  renown,  my  child,  my  child,  even 
as  thou  hast  adopted  a  vile  life  of  utter  misery,  warring 
down  the  dishonorable,  to  reap  two  benefits  in  one  word, 
the  reputation  of  being  both  wise  and  the  best  of  children.^ 
I  pray  thou  mayest  live  in  might  and  opulence  as  much  supe- 
rior to  thy  foes  as  now  thou  dwellest  beneath  their  hands  ; 
since  I  have  found  tliee  not  indeed  moving  in  a  prosperous 
station,  but  observing  the  most  excellent  of  those  laws  which 
flourish  the  highest,  by  thy  piety  to  Jove. 

Or.  Have  we,  ladies,  been  rightly  informed,  and  are  we 
rightly  journeying  whither  we  desire? 

Ch.  But  what  dost  thou  inquire  of  us,  and  with  wdiat  wish 
art  thou  here  ? 

Or.  Long  since  am  I  asking  for  yEgisthus,  where  he 
dwells. 

Ch.  Nay,  then,  both  rightly  art  thou  come,  and  thy  in- 
formant is  blameless. 

Or.  AVho  of  you  then  would  announce  to  those  within  the 
wished-for  presence  of  our  common  feet.^ 

Ch.  She  will,  if  at  least  it  befits  the  nearest  relative  to 
herald  this. 

1  "  Caraerarius  sic  vertit.  In  talhie  fortnua  florere  queat  ulla 
paternx  nobUUatis  conscia  ?  Pari  fere  sensu  Johnsonus :  Quis 
bonis  prognatus  sic  vivere  sustineat?  Mihi  versus  entbusiastice 
a  Choro  proterri  videtur,  maguanimitatem  Electrae  mirauti: 
Quis  nnqnam  adeo  generosa  exiitit." — JMusgrave.  "When  shall 
such  hero  live  again  ?" — Giaour. — Tk.  "  Devoted  to  her  father." 

— Liddell,  S.  v.  evnarpiT. — B. 

^  "ifa  tu  quoque  illsctahile  commune  fatnm  prseinJisti,  scelus  ar- 
mans,  ut  dupdcem  ferres  laiidem,  simvlque  et  sapiens  et  optima  filia 
dicerere.  Armare  euim  quuu)  dicitur  Electra  scelus,  id  patet 
idem  esse  ac  provocare  ad  dimicationem,  cujus  iucertus  est 
eventus,  unde  mortem  ilia  prseoptasse  dicitur." — Herm. 

^  See  V.  1358,  upon  which  Franklin  has  the  following  note: 
*'The  expression  in  the  origiual  is  remarkable,  hc^ia-rov  cxwv  ttocmv 
VTzr)ptrr)jxa,  dulcissimuui  habens  pedum  ministerium  ;  not  unlike 
that  of  the  prophet  Isaiah  :  '  How  beautiful  upon  the  mountains 
are  the  feet  of  him  that  bringeth  glad  tidings  !' " 


io8  ELECTRA.  [1106-1140. 

Or.  Go,  lady,  within,  und  signify  tliat  certain  men  from 
Pliocis  are  in  quest  of  jEgisthus. 

El.  Ah  unhappy  me  !  surely  they  can  never  be  bringing 
evident  proofs  of  the  report  which  we  have  heard  ? 

Or.  I  know  not  the  rumor  thou  hintest  at,  but  the  aged 
Strophius  bade  me  bring  tidings  concerning  Orestes. 

El.  But  what  is  it,  stranger  ?    How  fear  steals  upon  me  ! 

Or.  Bringing  them  in  a  narrow  urn,  we,  as  thou  seest,  con- 
vey the  poor  remains  of  him  dead. 

El.  Unhappy  me  !  this  then  is  that  now  certain  :  it  seems, 
I  see  my  sorrow  manifested. 

Or.  If  at  all  thou  weepest  for  Orestes'  ill,  know  that  this 
vase  incloses  his  remains. 

El.  O  stranger,  give  it  me  now,  if  truly  this  vessel  en- 
shrines him,  to  hold  in  my  hands,  that  I  may  weep  and  la- 
ment myself  and  my  whole  race  at  once  together  with  these 
ashes. 

Or.  Bring  it  forward  and  give  it  her,  whoever  she  is  ;  for 
not  as  in  enmity  at  least  to  him  she  requests  this,  but  being 
either  some  friend  or  by  birth  akin. 

El.  O  monument  of  him  among  mankind  dearest  to  me,^ 
relic  of  the  living  Orestes,  with  hopes  hoAv  changed  from 
those  wherewith  I  once  sent  thee  forth,  do  I  receive  thee 
back  !  For  now  I  bear  thee  in  my  hands,  a  nothing  ;  but 
from  thy  home,  my  boy,  I  sent  thee  blooming  forth.  How 
would  I  that  had  quitted  life,  ere  with  these  hands  having 
stolen,  I  dismissed  thee  to  a  foreign  land,  and  rescued  thee 
from  murder,  that  thou  on  that  day  hadst  lain  a  corpse,  and 
shared  a  common  portion  of  his  tomb  with  thy  father  !  But 
now,  far  from  thine  home,  and  in  a  foreign  land  an  exile, 
miserable  hast  thou  perished,  away  from  thy  sister  ;  nor 
with  affectionate  hands  have  I  prepared  the  bath  for  thee,^ 

1  Auhis  Gellius.  7,  5,  relates  to  Polus,  a  distinguished  Athe- 
nian actor,  already  mentioned  in  a  note  at  the  beginning  of  the 
OEdipus  Tyraimus,  that  not  I0U2:  before  the  acting  of  this  play 
he  had  lost  a  much-loved  and  only  son.  Having  to  perform  in 
the  character  of  Electra,  he  brought  his  son's  urn  and  ashes 
from  their  sepulchre  on  the  stage,  and  thus  turned  a  counterfeit 
into  a  real  passion. — Herm. 

2  ''  The  custom  of  washing  the  bodies  of  the  dead  is  very  an- 
cient.    This  office  was  always  performed  by  the  nearest  rela- 


Ii4i-ii6r.]  ELECTRA.  109 

nor  from  the  all-consuming  pyre  borne  away,  as  fitting,  the 
hapless  burden.  No,  but  by  stranger  hands  thou,  hapless, 
cared  for,  art  come  a  little  freight  in  a  little  urn.  Woe  is 
me  unhappy  for  my  nurture  of  yore,  unprofitable  !  wherein 
I  oft  engaged  for  thee  with  pleasing  toil !  for  never  wert 
thou  dearer  to  thy  mother  than  to  me  ;  nor  were  they  within, 
but  I,  thy  nurse,  yes,  I  as  a  sister  was  ever  accosted  by  thee. 
But  now  hath  all  this  vanished  in  a  single  day  with  thee,  no 
more  ;  yes,  all  hast  thou  with  thee  swept,  and  like  a  hurri- 
cane art  passed  away.  My  father  is  departed,  I  with  thee 
am  dead — thyself  art  dead  and  gone  ;  but  our  foes  laugh  ; 
and  our  unmothered^  motlier  is  frantic  with  delight ;  on  whom 
thou  oftentimes  wouldst  send  me  word  in  secret  that  thou 
wert  on  the  point  thyself  to  come  an  avenger.  But  this 
thine  and  my  luckless  destiny  hath  wrested  from  us,  which 
hath  sent  thee  to  me  thus,  in  place  of  a  form  most  dear,  ashes 
and  unavailing  shadow.  Ah  me,  ah  me  !  O  piteous  corpse  ! 
alas  !  alas  !  O  best  beloved,  brought  on  thy  way  most  dread- 

tions:  Socrates,  as  we  are  informed  "hy  Plato,  washed  himself 
before  his  execution,  probably  to  prevent  its  being  done  by 
strangers :  Alcestis  likewise,  in  Euripides,  after  she  had  deter- 
mined to  die  for  her  husband,  washes  herself.  The  Eomans 
adopted  this  custom  from  the  Greeks;  and  we  find  the  mother 
of  Euryalus  making  the  same  complaint  as  Electra, 

" Nee  te  tua  fuuera  mater 

Produxi,  pressive  oculos,  aut  vulnera  lavi. 

Virg.  ^n,  IX  "—Franklin.— Tr. 
Cf.  Tibullus,  I.  3,  3.  "  Me  tenet  ignotis  fegrum  Phaeacia  terris. 
Abstineas  avidas  mors  modo  nigra  manus.  Abstineas.  mors 
atra,  precor ;  non  hie  mihi  mater,  Quse  legat  in  moestos  ossa 
perusta  sinus.  Non  soror.  Assyrios  ciueri  qufB  dedat  odores, 
Et  fleat  eifusis  ante  sepulchra  comis."  See  also  Lucan.  vii. 
739.— B. 

1  The  general  analogy  of  language,  and  the  use  of  similar 
words  by  the  best  authors  fas  of  "  unfathered,  unkinged,"  by 
Shakespeare,  and  "  unchilded,"  iu  a  sense  corresponding  to  that 
of  the  Greek  word  here,  by  Bishop  Hall),  will,  it  is  hoped,  ex- 
cuse this  expression,  though  the  translator  is  not  prepared  to 
adduce  any  passage  in  its  support.  To  those  who  think  this  too 
great  a  liberty,  the  translation  of  Savage  in  his  first  poem,  "  O 
mother,  yet  no  mother!"  will  be  an  acceptable  refuge  from 
Franklin's  or  Potter's. 


lio  ELECTRA.  [1162-1183. 

fill,  ah  me  !  me  !  how  hast  thou  undone  me,  indeed  undone 
me,  mine  own  brother  !  Wherefore  admit  thou  me  into  this 
thy  mansion,  me  a  notliing,  to  a  nothing,  that  with  thee  in 
the  grave  I  may  henceforward  dwell ;  for  as,  Avhen  thou 
wert  on  earth,  with  thee  I  shared  an  equal  fortune,  so  now 
in  death  I  long  not  to  fail  of  [sharing]  thy  tomb  ;  for  I  see 
not  that  the  dead  are  pained.^ 

Ch.  Thou  art  begotten  of  a  mortal  father,  Electra,  reflect ; 
and  mortal  is  Orestes,  wherefore  sigh  not  too  deeply,  for  to 
all  to  suffer  this  is  owing. 

Or.  Alas  !  alas  !  what  shall  I  say  I  whither,  at  a  loss  for 
words,  shall  I  betake  me  \'^  For  control  my  tongue  can  I  no 
longer. 

El.  But  what  grief  didst  thou  feel  !  wherefore  happens  it 
thou  say  est  this? 

Or.   Is  this  of  thine  the  illustrious  form  of  Electra  ? 

El.  This  is  that  person,  and  in  most  woeful  plight. 

Or.  Then  woe  is  me  for  this  sad  mischance. 

El.  Wherefore,  stranger,  can  it  be,  that  thou  thus  sighest 
over  me? 

Or.   O  form,  in  disgraceful  and  miholy  sort  impaired  ! 

El.  It  can  be  none  else  but  me,  surely,  O  stranger,  that 
thou  deplorest. 

Or.  Alas  for  thy  marriageless  and  ill-fated  life  I 

^  Bruuck  translates  this  "  wo>-/»os  enim  dolore  conflictari  non 
video."     Franklin,  "  the  dead  are  free  from  sorrows."     Potter, 

'' The  dead  are  free 

From  all  the  various  woes  of  mortal  life." 
The  two  latter  did  not,  it  appears,  consider  it  as  any  thing  more 
than  a  general  sentiment.  The  translator  is  rather  iucliued 
to  suppose  it  a  reproach,  though  "clerkly  couched,"  to  the 
shade  of  Agamemnon,  the  ebullition  of  despair  at  the  neglect 
of  all  her  prayers  and  the  frustration  of  all  her  hopes.— Tk. 
With  the  preceding  -words  compare  Autig.  S97,  sqq. — B. 

'^  "  'Ajxrixai'wv.  Malim  sic,  ut  sit  participium,  vulgo  d/.trixaviov 
ab  dfifixavos-.'^ — Musgrave.  Which  Brunck  confirms  (see  his 
note)  on  authority.  "Bene,  mea  senteutia,  modo  ue  pravam  In- 
terpunctionem  adjecisset.  Xam,  ut  recte  mouet  Monkius, 
7T01  yoycov  jun.oenda  sunt,  qui  tamen  addere  debebatad  eumdeni 
geuitivum  etiam  participium  a/^/?xa»'wj/  referendum  esse." — 
Herm. 


1 184-1205.]  ELECTRA.  Ill 

El.  For  what  possible  reason,  stranger,  canst  thou  thus 
gazing  on  me  be  mourning  ? 

Or.  How  truly  nothing  had  I  known  of  my  miseries  ! 

El.  In  what  that  has  been  spoken  hast  thou  discerned 
this? 

Or.  Beholding  thee  conspicuous  for  thy  many  griefs. 

El.  And  yet  thou  seest  at  least  but  few  of  mine  ills. 

Or.  And  how  could  there  ever  exist  more  hateful  than 
these  to  look  on  ? 

El.  For  that  I  am  an  inmate  with  the  assassins. 

Or.  With  whose?     Whence  this  evil  thou  didst  mention? 

El.  My  father's.     Nay,  more,  to  them  perforce  I  slave. 

Or.  Why,  who  of  mankind  impels  thee  forward  to  this 
necessity  ?^ 

El.  My  mother  she  is  called  ;  but  with  a  mother  hath 
nought  in  common. 

Or.  Perpetrating  what  ?  with  violence,  or  with  penury 
of  living? 

El.  With  violence,  with  penury,  with  every  ill. 

Or.  And  is  there  none  at  hand  who  will  aid  thee,  and 
prevent  her  ? 

El.  None  indeed  ;  for  him  I  had,  hast  thou  brought 
hither  in  ashes. 

Or.  Ah  hapless  !  how  long  since  beholding  do  I  pity  thee  ! 

El.  Know  that  of  mankind  thou  alone  hast  compassion- 
ated me  now  at  last. 

Or.  Yes,  for  I  alone  come  in  pain  for  thy  woes. 

El.  Thou  surelv  art  not  come  from  some  quarter  akin  to 
me? 

Or.  I  would  tell  thee,  if  the  presence  of  these  be  friendly. 

El.  It  is  friendly,  so  that  thou  wilt  speak  before  the  trusty. 

Or.  Give  up  this  urn  now,  that  thou  mayest  learn  the 
whole. 

1  Hermann  somewhat  differently:  "  dvdyKT]  rijh  non  est  dati- 
vus,  idem  significans  quod  eiiavayKriv  rfivSe,  sed  ablativus:  Quis 
te  mortalium  hac  serviendi  necessitate cogit  ?  Quod  exquisitus  dic- 
tum pro,  quis  tibi  hanc  necessitatem  imponitf  'AvdyKri  TrpOTptirei 
idem  est  quod  dvayKd^ei:  et  quum  ravra  dicere  deberet,  pro- 
nomen  ad  nomen  dvayKrj  accommodavit,  ut  solent.'' — Tr.  Her- 
mann is  right.  Translate ;  "  what  man  rules  thee  under  this 
slave's  lot  ?"—B. 


112  ELECTRA.  [1206-1223. 

El.  Nay  truly,  by  the  gods,  deal  not  thus  with  me, 
stranger. 

Or.  Be  persuaded  as  I  say,  and  then  never  wilt  thou  err. 

El.  Not,  by  thy  beard^  I  pray  thee,  bereave  me  not  of  what 
I  hold  most  dear. 

Or.  I  can  not  consent  to  let  thee. 

El.  Ah  me  unhappy  for  thee,  Orestes,  if  I  am  to  be  de- 
prived of  thy  tomb  ! 

Or.  Speak  auspiciously,  for  not  with  reason  dost  thou 
mourn. 

El.  How  mourn  I  not  with  reason  my  dead  brother  ? 

Or.  It  suits  thee  not  with  these  words  to  accost  him.'^ 

El.  Am  1  thus  unworthy  of  the  dead? 

Or.   Unworthy  of  no  one.     But  this  is  not  thy  part. 

El.  At  least,  if  this  that  I  bear  is  the  body  of  Orestes. 

Or.  It  is  not  Orestes',  except  in  tale  at  least  worked  up. 

El.  But  where  is  the  tomb  of  him  unliappy  ? 

Or.  It  is  not ;    for  the  living  has  no  tomb. 

El.  How  hast  thou  said,  young  man? 

Or.  Nought  that  I  say  is  falsehood. 

El.  What,  lives  the  man  ? 

Or.  If  at  least  I  am  alive. 

El.  How,  art  thou  he  ? 

Or.  Having  inspected  this  my  father's  seal,^  ascertain  if  I 
speak  truth. 

^  "  By  thy  beard."  This  was  a  frequent  adjuration  among 
the  ancients,  as  the  beard  was  an  object  of  great  care,  and  the 
loss  of  it  esteemed  a  great  disgrace,  as  in  the  case  of  David's 
messengers  to  Hanun.  In  the  Arabian  Nights  there  is  a  procla- 
mation in  which  the  loss  of  the  beard  is  a  threatened  penalty 
for  failing  to  expound  certain  difficulties. 

2  Potter  translates  this,  "Thy  state  it  suits  not  thus  to 
speak."  Brunck,  '^  Non  te  decet  ista  loqui.''  But  the  word 
npoa'pcovE  v  seems  to  require  that  its  preposition  be  more  fully 
marked,  besides  that  it  makes  the  discovery  more  gradual, 
which  is  clearly  Orestes'  aim. 

3  "  What  this  mark  was,  has  greatly  puzzled  the  commenta- 
tors. The  scholiasts,  whose  conjectures  are  generally  whimsi- 
cal, will  needs  have  it  to  be  some  remains  of  the  ivory  shoulder 
(vid.  Bind,  Olymp.  I.)  of  Pelops  which  was  visible  in  all  his 
descendants,  as  those  of  Cadmus  were  marked  with  a  lance, 
and  the  Seleucidse  with  an  anchor.    Camerarius,  and  after  him 


I224-I254.]  ELECTRA.  113 

El.  O  day  most  welcome  ! 

Or.  Most  welcome,  I  join  to  witness. 

El.  O  voice,  art  thou  come  ? 

Or.  No  more  inquire  elsewhere. 

El.  Hold  I  thee  in  my  hands? 

Or.  So  mayest  thou  ever  henceforth  hold  me.  ^ 

El.  O  dearest  women,  O  my  countrywomen,  you  see  Orestes 
here,  in  artifice  deceased,  but  now  by  artifice  preserved. 

Ch.  We  see,  my  child,  and  at  thy  fortune  the  tear  of  glad- 
ness steals  from  mine  eyes. 

El.  O  offspring,  offspring  of  persons  to  me  most  dear,  at 
length  art  thou  come  !  thou  hast  found,  thou  hast  come,  thou 
hast  looked  on  those  thou  didst  desire. 

Or.  We  are  here;  but  tarry,  keeping  silence. 

El.  But  wherefore  this  ? 

Or.  Better  be  silent,  lest  one  from  within  hear  us. 

El.  But  no,  by  the  ever  virgin  Diana,  this  will  I  never 
deign,  to  dread  the  useless  load  of  women  that  ever  abides 
within.^ 

Or.  Yet  see  now  at  least  how  even  in  women  warlike  dar- 
ing exists  :  thou  surelv  having  experienced  this,  knowest  it 
full  well. 

El.  Alas  !  alas  !  thou  hast  introduced  unclouded  a  calamity 
never  to  be  remedied,  never  to  be  forgotten,  such  as  was  ours.^ 

Or.  I  know  this  also  ;  but  when  occasion  shall  prompt, 
then  must  we  call  to  mind  these  deeds. 

El.  All  times,*  all  times  were  to  me  fitting  as  they  passed 

Brumoy,  call  it  a  ring  or  seal,  which  indeed  is  the  most  natural 
interpretation  of  the  Greek  word  aippayig:  though  it  may  be 
said,  in  support  of  the  other  opinion,  that  the  natural  or  bodily 
mark  was  more  certain,  and  therefore  a  better  proof  of  identity 
in  regai'd  to  the  person  of  Orestes." — Franklin. 

1  Hermann,  however,  for  w?  reads  wj. — Tr.  And  so  Dind. — B. 

2  "Sensus  est,  hanc  quidem  non  dignam  habebo  quam  metiiam 
Clytemnestree  nimiam  semper  severitatem." — Herm.  Let  the 
reader  choose. 

3  dvicps'Xoi'  int^aXes  are  to  be  construed  together ;  'Xtjctojxevov  pas- 
sively. 

4  Thus  in  Philoctetes,  when  Neoptolemus  says  he  will  sail 
on  the  first  favorable  breeze,  but  that  the  wind  is  then  adverse 
to  them,  Philoctetes  replies, 

act  KaAdf  rrXoiij  eaB^  orav  (pcvyris   KUKa. 


114  ELECTRA.  [1255-12S5. 

to  denounce  with  justice  this  ;  for  scarcely  now  have  I  free- 
dom of  speecli. 

Or,   I  too  agree  with  thee,  wherefore  keep  this  in  mind. 

El.   By  doing  what  ? 

Or.   Where  it  is  unseasonable,  wish  not  to  speak  at  length. 

El.  Who,  then,  when  thou  hast  appeared,  would  thus 
change  their  words  for  silence,  at  least  of  any  worth?  since 
now  I  have  beheld  thee,  unpromised,  as  unhoped  for. 

Or.  Then  didst  thou  behold  me,  when  the  gods  urged  me 
to  return.^ 

El.  Tliou  hast  told  me  a  joy  yet  higher  than  my  former, 
if  heaven  hath  impelled  thee  to  our  abodes  :  I  count  this  a 
thing  of  heaven's  sending. 

Or.  In  part,  I  am  reluctant  to  repress  thy  joy  ;  in  part,  I 
fear  thy  being  too  much  overcome  by  rapture. 

El.  O  thou  that  thus  hast  deigned  in  length  of  time  to 
show  thyself  with  welcome  approach  to  me,  do  not,  I  pray, 
having  seen  me  thus  deep  in  misery — 

Or.    What  must  I  not  do? 

El.  Eob  me  not  of  my  joy  at  thy  countenance,  that  I  give 
it  up.^ 

Or.   Nay,  I  Avere  enraged  to  see  it  even  in  others.'^ 

El.   Dost  thou  consent? 

Or.   How  should  I  not  ? 

El.  My  friends,  I  have  heard  the  voice  I  never  could 
have  hoped  to  hear.  I  was  cherishing  a  voiceless  passion, 
wretched  as  I  was,  not  even  hearing  the  news  with  a  shriek,* 

1  Hermann  supposes  some  such  verse  as  the  following  to  have 
been  lost  from  this  place: 

aVToi  Y^y^'^'^'^S  rfJsSe  rfj;  o^ov  /3pa/3»7f. 

2  Construe  ri^ovdv  with  a-oo-repricrTig.  "GrsBcl,  cum  verba  duo, 
diversos  casus  regentia,  ad  idem  nomen  seque  referantur,  ne 
nomen  proprium  aut  pronoraen  minus  suaviter  repetatur,  in 
utrovis  regimiue  semel  ponuut.  altero  omisso." — Pors.  ad  Med, 
734.  Hermann  justly,  therefore,  wonders  that  Porson  should 
have  altered  the  accusative  here  into  acovSv,  Of  d-oa-epeZv  with 
a  double  accus.  see  Matt.  Gr,  Gr.  ^  412. 

■^  That  is,  ''Were  I  to  see  any  other  attempting  to  rob  thee 
of  that  joy." 

^  This  beautifully  expresses  the  depth  of  Electra's  misery  at 


1286-1305.]  ELECTRA.  115 

But  now  I  have  thee  ;  and  thou  hast  dawned  upon  me  with 
most  dear  aspect,  which  I  never  could  have  forgotten  even 
in  misery. 

Or.  This  overflow  of  words  dismiss,  and  tell  me  neither 
how  wicked  is  my  mother,  nor  how  ^Egisthus  drains  the 
riches  of  my  father's  house,^  and  part  he  wastes,  and  part 
he  idly  squanders  ;  for  this  thy  tale  would  obstruct  the 
timely  occasion  ;  but  what  will  suit  me  best  at  the  present 
season,  instruct,  wliere  showing,  or  concealing  ourselves,  we 
may  by  this  our  journey  quell  our  insulting  foes.  But  so 
[beware]  that  thy  mother  shall  not  find  thee  out  by  thy 
cheerful  countenance,  as  we  enter  the  palace,  but,  as  for  the 
calamity  falsely  announced,  lament ;  for  when  we  shall  have 
succeeded,  then  will  be  our  time  to  rejoice,  and  freely 
laugh.  ■'^ 

El.  But,  O  my  brother,  since  thus  it  pleases  thee,  so  shall 
my  pleasure  also  be  ;  since  the  joys  I  have  received,  I  have 
so,  deriving  them  from  thee,  and  not  mine  own.  And  not 
by  paining  thee  even  a  little  would  I  choose  myself  to  obtain 
a  great  advantage  ;  for  thus  I  were  not  duly  obedient  to  our 
present  good  genius.     But  thou  knowest  all  from  hence  ; 

the  tidings  of  her  brother's  death  ;  for  as  Malcolm  observes  to 
Macduff; 

" The  grief  that  does  not  speak, 

Whispers  the  o'erfraught  heart,  and  bids  it  break." 
Hence  Sophocles  with  the  same  idea  makes  Jocasta  in  Oedipus, 
and  the  queen  in  Antigone,  quit  the  stage  in  silence ;  upon 
which  latter  occasion  the  Chorus  says,  on  being  asked  by  the 
messenger  what  Eurydice's  sorrow  may  mean, 

"  I  know  not,  but  a  silence  so  reserved 
Imports  some  dread  event :  such  are  my  thoughts; 
A  clamorous  sorrow  wastes  itself  in  sound." 
Hermann  understands  the  passage  very  differently  :  "  Neque 
dubitari  potest,  quin  avaviiov  ovSi  ovv  pod  KXvovaa  ad  vocem  banc 
referendum  sit,  quam  obticuisse  mortuo  Oreste  acceperat  Elec- 

tra Facile  conjicias  a~  eVxoi/ dpya2',  vel  lU' Id  non 

cum  opydv  sed  cum  avSdp  conjungi  deberet,  hac  constructione 

Sv  OLfavSov  ov6s  ovv  ^oa    KXvovaa   caxov   avidv.''^ 

'  Homer  mentions  the  seduction  of  Clytemnestra,  and  luxu- 
rious indolence  of  yEgisthus,  at  large  in  his  Odyssey,  B.  III. 
^  Exactly  the  old  saw :  "  Let  them  laugh  that  win." — B. 


Ii6  ELECTRA.  [1306-1338. 

how  shouldst  thou  not  ?  hearing  that  .^gisthus  is  not  within, 
but  my  mother  is  at  home,  whom  never  dread  thou,  that  she 
shall  see  my  countenance  glowing  with  a  smile  ;  for  both 
mine  ancient  hatred  hath  sunk  deep  into  me,^  and  since  I 
have  looked  on  thee  I  shall  never  cease  shedding  tears  of 
joy.  For  how  should  I  cease,  who  in  a  single  journey  have 
beheld  thee  both  dead  and  alive?  Yes,  thou  hast  dealt  un- 
expectedly with  me  ;  so  that  Avere  my  father  to  come  to  me 
alive,  no  longer  should  I  account  it  a  prodigy,  but  believe  I 
saw  him.  When  then  in  such  a  -way  thou  comest  to  me, 
lead  thou,  as  thou  art  minded  ;  since  I  alone  had  not  failed 
of  two  things,  for  either  I  had  nobly  delivered  myself,  or 
nobly  perished. 

Or.  I  recommend  thee  to  be  silent,  since  I  hear  some  one 
of  those  within  proceeding  as  on  his  way  out. 

El.  Enter  ye,  strangers,  especially  as  bringing  what  none 
might  reject  from  his  house,  nor  be  glad  to  receive  with- 
in it.  2 

Att.  O  utterly  senseless  and  blasted  in  understanding  ! 
"What,  have  ye  not  longer  any  care  for  your  life  ?  or  have  ye 
no  inborn  prudence  in  you,  that,  although  no  longer  on  the 
verge,  but  in  the  very  midst  of  the  greatest  dangers,  ye  know 
it  not  ?  But  had  not  I  chanced  long  since  to  be  watching  at 
this  portal,  your  schemes  had  been  within  the  house  before 
your  persons  ;  but  now  I  have  exerted  precaution  against 
this.  And  now  having  bid  adieu  to  protracted  converse,  and 
this  insatiate  clamor  of  delight,  get  ye  privately  within,  since 
to  delay  is  in  such  cases  harm,  but  the  crisis  requires  one  to 
have  done  with  it.^ 

1  Literally,  "  hatli  melted  like  wax  into  me." 

2  This  speech  of  Electra,  as  several  of  those  she  afterward 
addresses  to  ^gisthus,  is  craftily  ambiguous,  in  obedience  to 
Orestes'  instructions  at  v.  129*i. 

^  Brunck  translates  this,  ^^urgetautem  occasio  rei  gerendx;" 
and  Johnson  "  tempus  autem  ipsum  jam  instat  exseqiiendi ;"  but  as 
the  verb  a-a\\aa(Toiiai  occurs  just  above,  there  seems  no  reason 
to  alter  its  sense  immediately  afterward.  Of  course  the  expres- 
sion may  be  considered  as  relating  either  to  their  '"ridding 
themselves  of  the  business  by  executing  it,"  or  to  their  bid- 
ding a  temporary  adieu  to  each  other:  on  these  the  reader 
must  decide  for   himself. — Tr.     I   think   the   phrase  I   have 


1339-1361.]  ELECTRA.  117 

Or.  How  then  are  matters  from  thence  with  me  if  I 
enter  ? 

Att.  Well  ;  for  it  chances  that  no  one  knows  thee. 

Or.  Thou  hast  reported,  I  suppose,  that  I  am  dead  ? 

Att.  Know  now,  that,  here  a  man,  thou  art  one  of  those 
in  Hades.  ^ 

Or.  Are  they  then  glad  at  this  ?  or  what  are  their  senti- 
ments? 

Att.  When  all  these  things  are  finished,  I  would  tell  thee ; 
but  as  things  now  go  all  is  well  with  them,  even  what  is  not 
well.  2 

El.  Who  is  this,  my  brother  ?  tell  me,  by  the  gods. 

Or.  Knowest  thou  not? 

El.  At  least  I  bring  him  not  to  mind. 

Or.  Knowest  thou  not  into  whose  hands  thou  once  didst 
deliver  me  ? 

El.  To  whom  ?     How  sayest  thou  ? 

Or.  By  whose  hands  I  Avas  privately  conveyed  to  the  Pho- 
cian's  land,  by  thy  forethought. 

El.  What?  is  this  he,  whom  once  alone  of  many  I  found 
faithful  at  the  time  of  my  father's  murder  ?-' 

Or.  This  is  he  ;  question  me  with  no  more  words. 

El.  O  dearest  light !  O  sole  preserver  of  Agamemnon's 
house,  how  hast  thou  come?  what,  art  thou  he  who  saved  him 
and  me  from  many  a  woe?  O  dearest  hands  !  O  thou  that 
hast  the  most  welcome  service  of  the  feet  !^  How  thus  long 
present  to  me  didst  thou  elude,  nor  disclose  thyself  to  me, 
but  didst  destroy  me  in  words,  bearing  deeds  most  pleasant 
to  me?     Hail,  my  father,  for  a  father  I  seem  to  behold  ;  O 

adopted  the  most  literal,  and  also  the  most  correct  to  the  sense. 
The  same  thing  is  expressed  in  v.  21 :  wr  ivrave''  "iva  Ovk  ear 
er  OKvsiv  KaipoT,  dXA'  Epywv  aKfxrt. — B. 

1  I  have  some  doubts  whether  greater  stress  should  not  be 
laid  upon  tvoUe,  and  the  words  construed  thus:  jxavQav  elr  wv 
fivrip  TMv  £v"AiSov  evOaSe,  "know,  that  thou  art  an  inhabitant  of 
Hades,  as  far  as  those  here  are  a  whit  the  wiser,''  i.e.,  you're 
dead,  for  all  they  know.     B. 

2  I.e.  the  conduct  of  Clytemnestra  and  ^gisthus. 

3  "Faithful  found, 
Among  the  faithless,  faithful  only  he." 

*  See  note  on  v.  1104. 


ii8  ELECTRA.  [1362-1395, 

hail  I  But  know  that  thee  of  all  men. I  most  abhorred,  most 
loved,  in  a  single  day. 

Att.  Methinks  it  is  enough  ;  since  for  the  tale^  that  in- 
tervenes, many  a  night  and  day  as  long  revolves,  which 
shall  explain  all  this  clearly  to  thee,  Electra.  But  I  advise 
you  at  least  that  stand  here,  that  now  is  the  season  for  action  ; 
now  Clytemnestra  is  alone  ;  now  there  is  not  a  man  within  ; 
but  if  ye  shall  delay,  bethink  you  that  ye  Avill  have  to  battle 
with  both  these  and  other  foes,  more  crafty  and  more  numer- 
ous than  these. 

Or.  No  more  of  lengthened  discourse  to  us,  O  Pylades, 
doth  this  work  admit  of,  but  with  all  speed  to  haste  within, 
having  saluted  the  paternal  abodes  of  the  deities,  as  many  as 
dwell  in  his  vestibule.^ 

El.  O  King  Apollo,  favorably  hear  them,  and  with  them 
me,  who  many  a  time  indeed  with  suppliant  hand,  and  such 
store  as  I  possessed,  have  stood  before  thee.  But  now,  Ly- 
ca^an  Apollo,  with  such  as  I  have,  I  beg,  I  fall  before  thee,  I 
implore  thee  ;  be  thou  a  willing  abettor  to  us  in  these  de- 
signs, and  show  mankind  what  reward,  the  price  of  impiety, 
the  gods  bestow. 

Ch.  Behold  where  Mars  spreads  forth,  breathing  the  blood 
of  sad  strife.  Even  now  are  entering  beneath  the  palace  roof 
the  hounds  that  follow  after  evil  villanies,  from  whom  is  no 
escape  f  wherefore  not  much  longer  will  the  presage  of  my 
soul  continue  in  suspense.  For  the  stealthy-footed  avenger 
of  the  dead  is  brought  within  the  house,  to  the  dwelling  of 
his  father  teeming  with  ancient  wealth,  having  upon  his 
hands  blood  newly  shed  ;*  and  the  son  of  Maia^  Mercury 

1  Cf.  "  Two  Gentlemen  of  Verona,  '  Act  2,  sc.  4: 

"  Please  you  I'll  tell  you  as  we  pass  aloug, 
That  you  will  wonder  what  hath  fortuned." — B. 

2  Thus  Philoctetes,  by  the  desire  of  Neoptolemus,  salutes  the 
tutelary  guardians  of  his  dreary  abode  when  on  the  point  of^ 
quitting  Lemnos. 

^  Hermann  understands  this  of  Orestes  and  Pylades. 

*  Hermann  has  dissipated  the  clouds  of  the  grammarians  re- 
specting aljxa  in  the  sense  of  sword,  by  showing  that  the  metre 
requires  veoKovnrov,  from  KCfcj.  Cf.  Eu.  El.  1172.  The  verse  is  a 
double  dochmaic. 

^  "  Mercury  was  the  god  of  fraud  and  treachery,  and  called 


1396-1410.]  ELECTRA.  119 

conducts  liim,  in  darkness  burying  his  guile,  to  the  very- 
boundary,  nor  longer  tarries. 

El.  O  ladies,  most  beloved,  the  men  will  forthwith  ac- 
complish the  deed  ;  but  wait  it  in  silence. 

Ch.  How  then?     What  do  they  now? 

El.  She  is  preparing  a  cauldron  for  the  burial,  but  they 
are  standing  close  by  her. 

Ch.  And  wherefore  hast  thou  hurried  out? 

El.  To  watch  that  ^Egisthus  may  not  escape  us  on  re- 
turning within. 

[Clytemnestra  from  within.l  Oh!  oh!  alas  i  alas  !  Oh  dwell- 
ings, destitute  of  friends,  but  full  of  the  destroyers  ! 

El.  Some  one  shrieks  within.     Hear  ye  not,  my  friends?^ 

Ch.  I  unhappy  heard  what  was  not  fit  to  be  heard,  so 
that  I  shuddered. 

Cly.   Unhappy  me  !  ^Egisthus,  where  canst  thou  be  ? 

El.  Hark  !  again  some  one  cries  aloud. 

Cly.   My  son,  my  son,  pity  her  that  bore  thee. 

SoXioT,  or  the  deceiver;  to  him  therefore  were  attributed  all 
secret  schemes  and  expeditious,  good  or  bad.  The  propriety  of 
Mercury's  peculiar  assistance  in  this  place  may  likewise  be  ac- 
counted for  from  his  relation  to  Myrtilus,  who  was  slain  by  Pe- 
lops." — Franklin.  To  which  he  might  have  added  the  personal 
slight  that  Mercury  had  received  from  ^gisthus.  See  Homer, 
Od.  1: 

"  Hermes  I  sent,  while  yet  his  soul  remaiu'd 
Sincere  from  royal  blood,  aud  faith  profaned  ; 
To  warn  the  wretch  that  youug  Oi*estes,  grown 
To  manly  years,  should  reassert  the  throne: 
Yet  impotent  of  mind,  aud  uncontroll'd, 
He  plunged  into  the  gulf  which  heaven  foretold." 

Pope's  Trans.  1.  49. 
1  "  Dacier  puts  these  w^ords  into  the  mouth  of  one  of  the  wo- 
men that  compose  the  Chorus;  because  (says  he)  Electra  would 
never  have  said  'some  one  cries  out,'  as  she  knew  it  must  be 
Clytemnestra.  The  reader  may  take  his  choice  in  regard  to 
this  alteration.  I  have  left  it  as  it  stands  in  the  original,  being 
a  matter  of  no  great  consequence."  Tlius  Franklin  ;  neither 
he  nor  the  French  critic  seeming  aware  that  nr  in  this  passage 
no  more  implies  ignorance  of  the  person,  than  it  does  in  many 
passages  of  Aristophanes ;  for  instance,  in  Eanse,  vv.  552,  601, 
628,  or  than  in  St.  Luke,  c.  viii.  v.  46. 


I20  ELECTRA.  [1411-1433. 

El,.  But  not  by  thee  was  he  pitied,  nor  the  father  that  be- 
gat him. 

Ch.  O  city,  O  race  ill-fated  I  now  destiny  day  after  day 
wastes  thee,  wastes  thee  ! 

CiiY.   Ah  me,  I  am  stricken  ! 

El.  Strike,  if  thou  hast  strength,  a  double  stroke. 

Cly.    Woe  is  me  again  and  again  ! 

El.  Would  it  were  likewise  woe  to  ^Egisthus. 

Cn.  The  curses  are  fulfilled  ;  they  that  lie  beneath  the 
earth  are  alive  ;  for  the  long  since  dead  are  secretly  shed- 
ding the  copious-streaming:  blood  of  those  that  slew  them. 
And  now  indeed  they  are  here,  and  their  gory  hand  is  drip- 
ping with  tlie  first  sacrifice  to  Mars  ;  yet  can  I  not  speak  !^ 

El.   Orestes,  how  is  it  ? 

Or.  For  what  is  within  the  palace,  Avell,  if  well  Apollo 
hath  predicted. 

El.  Is  the  wretched  woman  dead  ? 

Or.  No  longer  fear  that  thy  mother's  spirit  will  ever  in- 
sult tliee. 

Ch.  Have  done,  for  I  plainly  perceive  ^Egisthus. 

El.  Youths,  will  ye  not  retire  hastily  ? 

Or.  Perhaps  ye  discern  the  man  [coming]  toward  us?-^ 

El.  He  from  the  suburb  a^dvances  rejoicing. 

Ch.  Go  through  the  opposite  doorway  with  all  possible 
speed  :'^  now,  having  well-disposed  of  all  before,  so  [do]  this 
again  in  turn.* 

1  Hermann  reads  'djiyciv,  putting  these  lines  into  the  mouth 
of  the  Chorus,  and  the  following  half  verse,  which  he  gives  to 
Electra  thus:  'Opkara,  tw-  KvpeX  ^e;  but  to  understand  these 
words,  o()J'  I'yw  xpeyeiv,  of  the  murder  of  Clytemuestra,  would 
suit  neither  the  character  of  the  Chorus  nor  the  time.  Her- 
mann lias  therefore  referred  them  to  "Apeor,  after  which  he  puts 
a  comma,  and  compares  II.  A.  539. — Tk.  I  have  followed  Diu- 
dorf.— B. 

2  Orestes,  elaopSrs  reov  rdv  livcp' ;  and  then  Electra,  £</»'  finiv,  k. 
T.  X.  So  Hermann,  who  excepts  the  verb  from  the  interroga- 
tion thus:   "  Ye  see  the' man  :  where  ?" 

3  "  Est  avrievpov  locus  in  ffidibus  interior  oppositus  foribus. 
Y.  Lucian  Alexandro  16 ;  Hermsterh.  App.  Anim.  p.  15." — 
Herinatin. 

*  0.V0£  is  to  be  understood. — Herm. 


1434-1460.]  ELECTRA.  121 

Or.  Courage  ;  we  will  effect  it. 

El.   Hasten  now,  whither  thou  purposest. 

Or,  Well,  then,  I  am  gone. 

El.  The  rest  should  be  my  care. 

Ch.  It  would  be  useful  to  whisper  a  few  words  at  least  as 
mildly  as  possible  to  this  man  in  his  ear,  that  headlong  he 
may  rush  into  the  covert  strife  of  vengeance. 

JEgisthus.  Who  of  you  knows  where  the  Phocian  stran- 
gers can  be,  who,  they  say,  bring  us  news  that  Orestes  has 
lost  his  life  amid  the  wrecks  of  the  chariots  ?  Thee,  yes,  thee, 
even  thee  I  question,  in  time  past  so  audacious,  since  I  think 
thou  hast  most  care  for  it,  and  best  knowest  so  as  to  tell  me. 

El.  I  do  know  it ;  for  how  should  I  not  ?  for  else  had  I 
been  stranger  to  a  casualty  of  dearest  import  of  all  to  me. 

JEg.   Where  then  may  be  the  strangers?  instruct  me. 

El.  Within  ;  for  a  friendly  hostess  have  they  encoun- 
tered.^ 

^G.   What,  and  reported  they  of  his  death  as  certain  ? 

El.  Nay,  but  they  have  also  shown  it  to  sight,  not  in 
words  only. 

iEG.   And  is  it  for  us  to  ascertain  it  as  evident  also  ? 

El.  It  is  indeed  at  hand,  and  a  most  unenviable  spectacle. 

^G.  Verily  thou  hast  bidden  me  rejoice  much,  not  in  thy 
wonted  manner. 

El.  Joy  thou,  if  such  as  this  is  joy  to  thee. 

^G.  I  bid  you  to  keep  silence,  and  to  throw  open  the 
gates  for  all  My  cense  and  Argos  to  behold,^  that  if  any  among 

1  There  is  an  intentional  ambiguity  in  all  Electra's  language 
here :  KUTfiwaav,  upon  which  depends  the  genitive,  has  a  double 
meaning  of  the  preposition  Kara;  confecerunt  [viam  vel  rem] 
Kara. — Herm. 

'^  It  was  a  common  practice  among  the  Greeks  to  set  the 
corpse  out  to  view.  See  Adam's  Eoman  Antiquities  on  the  word 
depositus,  where  he  observes  that  this  custom  was  probably  de- 
rived from  that  of  exposing  sick  persons  before  the  doors  of 
their  liouses,  that  the  passers-by  might  suggest  any  medicine 
they  had  known  to  be  of  service  in  such  cases,  as  mentioned  by 
Herodotus,  b.  i.  197.  "^gisthus,  imagining  tbatthese  Phocian 
strangers  had  brought  the  dead  body  of  Orestes,  expected  to 
find  it  laid  at  the  entrance  of  the  house,  ad  limeu,  such  being 
the  general  usage  of  antiquity." — Potter. 
6 


122  ELECTRA.  [1461-1486. 

them  was  heretofore  buoyed  up  with  empty  hopes  of  this 
man,  now  seeing  him  dead  he  may  receive  my  curb,  nor  to 
his  cost  beget  him  after-wisdom,  meeting  with  me  his  chas- 
tiser. 

El.  And  now  is  my  part  fulfilled,  for  at  length  I  have  got 
the  sense  to  suit  my  betters. 

^Eg.  O  Jove,  I  behold  a  sight  that  hath  not  fallen  without 
the  ill-will  of  the  gods  ;  but  if  Nemesis  attend,  I  recall  my 
W'Ords.^  Remove  all  covering  from  mine  eyes,  that  my  kin- 
dred, look  you,  may  meet  with  lamentation  from  me  too. 

Ok.  Do  thou  thyself  lift  it  :  this  is  not  my  part,  but  thine, 
both  to  look  on  this,  and  accost  it  as  a  friend. 

JEg.  Nay,  thou  advisest  well,  and  I  will  obey  ;  but  do  thou, 
if  haply  Clytemnestra  be  within,  call  her. 

Or.  She  is  close  by  thee,  look  not  elsewhere. 

^kj.   Ah  me  !  what  do  I  behold  ? 

Or.  Whom fearest  thou  ?  Avhom  knowest  thou  not? 

-3^G.  Into  what  men's  surrounding  trammels  can  I  wretched 
have  fallen  ? 

Or.  What,  preceivest  thou  not  long  ago,  that  thou  parley- 
est  with  the  living  Just  as  dead  ? 

^Eg.  a  h  me  !  I  comprehend  thy  words  ;  for  it  can  not  be 
but  this  that  speaketh  to  me  must  be  Orestes. 

Or.  Ay,  and  tliough  so  good  a  prophet,  wert  thou  deceived 
thus  long  I- 

^Eg.  Then  wretched  I  am  undone  :  but  permit  me  to  say, 
though  but  a  little. 

El.  Let  him  speak  no  farther,  in  heaven's  name,  my 
brother,  nor  lengthen  out  his  words.  For  what  profit  should 
he  among  mortals  involved  in  evils,  that  is  about  to  die,  gain 
by   time  ?     No,  slay  him  with  utmost  speed  ;    and    having 

^  See  note  on  v.  792.  Potter  remarks  on  the  peculiar  inde- 
cency of  which  yEijisthus  was  here  guilty  (and  in  which  he 
checks  himself),  he  being  a  near  relation  to  Orestes.  But  Her- 
mann retains  in  the  former  line  the  old  reading  oi'i,  and  com- 
pares iEsch.  Agam.  913,  with  this  meaning:  '' cecidit  ille  via  et 
insidta  deorum  si  fas  est  hoc  dicere.  Sentit  enim  ipse  impuden- 
tur  se  hanc  mortem  justitia?  deorum  adscribere  ;  unde  addit,  si 
hoc  nefas  est  indlctum  volo." 

2  Orestes  means  that  Jilgisthus.  who  could  now  foresee  his  fate 
so  clearly,  might  have  anticipated  it  long  ago. 


1487-1510-]  ELECTRA.  123 

slain,  expose  him  to  buriers,  such  as  'tis  reason  he  should 
have,  unseen  of  us.^  Since  this  could  be  the  only  atone- 
ment to  me  of  my  former  wrongs. 

Or.  Thou  must  go  speedily  within ;  for  the  strife  is  not 
now  of  words,  but  for  thy  life. 

JEa.  Why  takest  thou  me  in-doors  ?  how,  if  this  deed  be 
honorable,  needs  it  darkness,  and  why  art  not  thou  ready  with 
thine  hand  to  slay  me  ? 

Or.  Order  not,  but  go  thither,  where  thou  slewest  my 
father,  that  on  that  very  spot  thou  mayest  die. 

JEg.  What  !  is  it  absolutely  doomed  that  this  roof  witness 
both  the  present  and  future  ills  of  the  Pelopidje  ? 

Or.  Thine  at  all  events.  I  am  in  this  a  capital  soothsayer 
to  thee. 

^G.   But  no  paternal  art  is  this  thou  hast  vaunted. 

Or.  Thou  answerest  much,  while  thy  departure  is  retarded  ; 
but  begone. 

JEg.  Lead  the  way. 

Or.  Thou  must  go  first. 

^G.  Is  it  that  I  escape  thee  not  ? 

Or.  Nay,  lest  thou  die  then  with  pleasure  :^  it  is  my  duty 
to  keep  this  bitter  to  thee  ;  but  good  were  it  that  this  ven- 
geance were  immediate  on  all,  at  least,  whoever  wishes  to 
transgress  the  laws  to  slay  them.  For  then  were  not  vil- 
lany  abundant. 

Ch.  O  seed  of  Atreus,  how  much  having  suffered  hast 
thou  hardly  worked  out  thy  way  to  freedom,^  brought  to 
completion  by  the  present  attempt ! 

1  Potter  observes,  on  the  authority  of  Pausanias,  that  ^gis- 
thus  aud  Clytemnestra,  being  held  unworthy  of  a  tomb  in  the 
same  place  in  which  Agamemnon  lay,  were  buried  just  outside 
the  city  walls. 

2  Compare  this  sentiment  of  Orestes  with  that  of  Hamlet, 
where  he  hesitates  to  kill  his  uncle  while  praying.  We  must 
hope,  for  the  sake  of  the  authors,  that  they  considered  both 
their  heroes  as  madmen. 

^  Or,  "come  by  freedom." 


ANTIGONE. 


Ckeox,  having  cast  out  Polyuices  (who  had  fallen  in  single 
combat  with  his  brother)  without  burial.  Antigone,  his  sister, 
despite  the  proclamation  of  the  king,  buries  him  herself.  She 
is  at  length  discovered  by  the  guards,  and,  despite  the  inter- 
cession of  Hfemon,  is  ordered  to  be  entombed  alive:  Creon's 
cruelty  is  visited  by  the  death  of  his  son  and  wife,  as  Tiresias 
has  predicted,  and  his  repentance  and  wish  to  save  Antigone 
come  too  late. — B. 


DRAMATIS  PERSOX.E. 

AxTiGONE.  I  Messenger, 

ismene.  h.emon. 

Chorus.  Tiresias. 

Creon.  I  Eurydice. 

Antiooxe.  O  kindred  form  of  my  own  sister  Ismene,^ 
knowest  thou  whaf^  of  the  ills  which  spring  from  (Edipus  — 

1  The  curses  of  (Edipus  have  now  been  fulfilled :  Polyuices 
and  Eteocles  have  fallen  by  each  otlier's  hands,  and  the  army 
of  the  Argives  has  been  routed  before  the  walls  of  Thebes.  An- 
tigone is  not  forgetful  of  the  request  of  Polyuices  at  their  last 
interview,  and  determines,  in  spite  of  the  edict  to  the  con- 
trary, to  bestow  the  rights  of  sepulture  on  her  unhappy  brother. 
As  the  play  mainly  turns  on  this  circumstance,  it  is  necessary 
to  bear  in  mind  how  much  importance  the  ancients  attached 
to  the  burial  of  the  dead.  The  constancy  of  Antigone's  reso- 
lution will  thus  be  explained,  the  violence  of  her  sisterly  atfec- 
tion  justified,  and  even  the  merit  of  her  generous  conduct  en- 
hanced.— Tr.  '■  Ismene,  dear  in  very  sisterhood,"  Donaldson, 
who  has  a  somewhat  ingenious  note  upon  the  periphrase  Kiipa 
']afn]i'n~.  He  compares  the  English  "poll"  in  "polling," 
"catch-poll."  etc. — B. 

'^  I  have  rendered  this  passage  literally,  but  the  interveniuj^ 

(124) 


3-25.]  ANTIGONE.  125 

what  not — cloth  Jove  yet  accomplish  to  us  in  life?  for  there 
is  nothinj,',  either  wretched  or  ruinous/  or  base  and  degrad- 
ing, which  I  have  not  beheld  in  your  evils  and  mine.  And 
now  again,  what  is  this  proclamation  which  they  say  the 
ruler  lias  just  proi)Ounded  to  all  the  people  of  the  city? 
Knowest  thou?  and  hast  thou  heard  aught?  or  do  the  inju- 
ries of  enemies  advancing  against  friends  escape  thee? 

IsMENE.  To  me  indeed,  Antigone,  no  tidings  of  friends, 
either  sweet  or  sorrowful,  have  come  from  the  time  that  we 
two  were  bereft  of  two  brothers,  dying  on  the  same  day  by  a 
twin  slaughter ;  and  since  the  army  of  the  Argives  has  dis- 
appeared during  this  night,  I  know  nothing  farther,  whether 
I  fare  better  or  am  more  afllicted. 

Ant.  I  knew  it  well  ;  and  therefore  have  I  brought  thee^ 
without  the  gates  of  the  courts,  that  you  might  hear  alone. 

Ism.  But  what  is  it?  for  you  appear  stirred  at  some  tidings.^ 

Ant.  For  has  not  Creon  distinguished  one  of  our  brothers 
with  burial  rites,  but  deprived  the  other  of  tiiis  lionor? 
Eteocles,  indeed,  as  they  say,^  acting  upon  the  rights  of  jus- 
tice and  law,  he  has  intombed  beneath  the  earth,  honorable 

interrogation  b-oiov  ovxl  causes  much  difficulty.  If  we  read  on, 
the  construction  will  be  simpler. — B. 

1  The  reader  must  choose  between  ayr]^  arsp  (the  common, 
but  apparently  corrupt  reading),  ayn';  aT€p=^unenviable,  of  Coray, 
which  Wander  follows;  arriT  sxov  of  Person  ;  or  iimv  ayoi/,  of 
Donaldson,  The  common  reading  is  thus  explained  by  Her- 
mann; oiSiv  roil'  cixcof  KaKoHi'  ovk  aXyeivov  onioTra  ovt  bzwira  (this 
being  the  leading  part  of  the  sentence)  arr)~  arep,  ovS'  'e<TTiv  hnoiov 
OVK  aixpov  ovS'  aTifiov  oVwrra.  An  Attic  audience  must  have  had 
little  relish  for  plain  speaking,  who  could  bear  a  sentence  that 
might  be  negative  or  affirmative  at  pleasure ! — B. 

-  On  £^£7re[nroi',  see  Donaldsuu. — B. 

^  I  am  again  indebted  to  Donaldson,  who  has  clearly  shown 
that  KaXxa'ii'ovcya  is  intransitive,  and  that  cVoj  refers  to  what 
Antigone  had  to  communicate.  This  is  confirmed  by  the  pre- 
ceding words  of  Antigone,  to  which  the  answer  now  seems  a 
natural  one. — B. 

■^  There  is  much  difficulty  about  this  passage.  Hermann 
would  read  xp^O^h  in  the  sense  "rogatus  justa,"  alluding  to 
the  request  of  Eteocles  to  Creon.  See  Scholia.  Donaldson 
reads  vpoaesl^-.  The  explanations  of  the  common  reading  are 
quite  unsatisfactory. — B. 


126  ANTIGONE.  [26-46. 

to  the  gods  below  ;  but  tlie  corpse  of  Polynices,  which  wretch- 
edly fell,  they  say  it  has  been  proclaimed  to  the  citizens  that 
no  one  shall  inclose  in  the  tomb,  nor  wail  over,  but  leave  it 
unlamented  and  unburied,^  a  sweet  store  for  birds  greedily 
eyeing  the  delight  of  the  banquet.  Such  things  they  say 
that  the  good  Creon  has  proclaimed  to  you  and  me,  for  I 
say  even  me,  and  that  he  is  coming  hither  to  herald  them 
clearly  forth  to  those  who  do  not  know  them,  and  to  bid 
them  consider  the  matter  not  as  a  thing  of  nought,  but  who- 
soever shall  do  one  of  those  things,  that  a  death  by  the 
stoning  of  the  people  is  decreed  him  in  the  city.  Thus  rests 
this  case  to  you,  and  you  will  quickly  show  whether  you 
have  been  born  of  generous  spirit,  or  degenerate  from  the 
good. 

Ism.  But  what,  oh  wretched  Avoman  !  if  these  things  are 
in  this  state,  what  could  I  avail,  loosing  or  binding?^ 

Ant.  Consider  if  thou  wilt  labor  along  with  me,  and  assist 
me  in  the  work. 

Ism.  In  what  sort  of  hazard  ?  Where  possibly  are  you  in 
thought? 

Ant.  If  you  will  raise  up  along  with  this  hand  the  dead 
body. 

Ism.  For  do  you  design  to  bury  him,  a  thing  forbidden 
by  the  state  ? 

Ant.  Yes,  him  who  is  at  all  events  my  brother ;  and 
yours,  though  you  wish  it  not  f  for  I  will  not  be  caught 
betraying  him. 

1  This  was  the  judgment  which  God  denounced  against 
Jehoiakim,  king  of  Judah  :  "  They  shall  not  lament  for  him, 
saying,  Ah,  my  brother  !  or,  Ah,  sister!  they  shall  not  lament 
for  him,  saying,  Ah,  lord!  or,  Ah,  his  glory!  He  shall  be 
buried  with  the  burial  of  au  ass,"  etc. — Jer.  xxii.  18,  19.  The 
customs  and  manners  of  the  Greeks  were  originally  drawn  from 
the  Eastern  nations,  which  accounts  for  the  similitude  so  ob- 
servable in  Sophocles,  and  other  heathen  writers,  with  some 
parts  of  Holy  Writ. — Franklin. 

■-■  Donaldson  rejects  Boeck's  view,  and  renders  it  generally, 
"by  doing  or  undoing."     But  see  Wunder's  note. — B. 

^  That  is,  "  Though  you,  an  unnatairal  sister,  would  disown 
him;"  or  it  may  be,  more  simply,  "I  will  bury  him,  though 
you  do  not  wish  it." 


47-74.]  ANTIGONE.  127 

Ism.  Oh  daring  woman  !  when  Creon  has  forbidden  ? 

Ant.  But  he  has  no  business  to  put  a  barrier  betwixt  me 
and  mine.^ 

Ism.  Ah  me  !  consider,  oh  sister  !  how  our  father  perished 
in  odium  and  infamy,  having,  upon  his  self-detected  guilt, 
himself  torn  out  both  his  eyes  with  self-destroying  hand  ;  then 
his  mother  and  wife,  a  double  title,  mars  her  life  by  the  sus- 
pended cords  ;  and  third,  the  two  wretched  brothers,  slaying 
themselves  on  the  same  day,  Avrought  their  mutual  death  each 
by  a  brother's  hand.  And  now  we  too,  being  left  alone, 
consider  by  how  much  the  worst  of  all  we  shall  perish,  if,  in 
violation  of  the  law,  we  transgress  the  decree  or  power  of 
superiors.  But  it  behooves  us,  indeed,  to  reflect,  in  the  first 
place,  that  we  are  by  nature  women,  so  as  not  able  to  con- 
tend against  men  ;  and  then,  since  we  are  ruled  by  those 
most  powerful,  to  submit  to  these  things,  and  things  still 
more  painful  than  these.  I  then,  indeed,  asking  those  below 
the  earth  to  forgive  me,  since  I  am  constrained  to  this,  will 
obey  those  who  walk  in  office  f  for  to  attempt  those  things 
beyond  our  power  implies  no  wisdom. 

Ant.  Neither  will  I  request  you,  nor  though  you  now  wish 
to  do  it,  should  you  act  along  with  me,  at  least  with  my  good- 
will. But  be^  of  such  a  character  as  seems  good  to  you  ;  but 
I  will  bury  him  :  it  were  glorious  to  me,  doing  this,  to  die. 
I  beloved  will  lie  with  him — with  him  I  love,  having  auda- 
ciously done  what  is  holy  \^  since  the  time  is  longer  which 

1  This  dialogue  between  Antigone  and  Ismene  exceedingly 
resembles  that  between  the  sisters  in  the  tragedy  of  Electra, 
by  the  same  author.  The  sentiments  and  the  characters  en- 
tirely correspond.  Antigone  and  Electra  are  generous  and 
bokl ;  Ismene  and  Chrysothemis  selfish  and  pitiful. 

2  This  is  a  principle  of  conduct  with  a  great  many  people 
besides  Ismene,  though  they  may  not  always  be  quite  so  candid 
as  the  young  lady  in  confessing  it. 

^  Bruuck  has  here  made  a  mistake  in  deriving  to-0(  from  io-^?/*! 
scio,  iusted  oi  djxi  sum. 

^  "  Wickedly  "  were  perhaps  a  better  word,  did  it  not  make 
the  expression  rather  too  contradictory.  Antigone  confesses 
her  violation  of  the  law,  but  justifies  the  means  by  the  end. 
This  is  what  is  implied  in  baia  ■Kavovpynaacra,  to  which  we  have 
something  similar  in  the  phrase  of  "  a  pious  fraud." 


128  ANTIGONE.  [75-ioo, 

it  behooves  me  to  please  those  below  than  those  here  ;  for 
there  I  shall  ever  lie.  But  if  it  seems  good  to  you,  do  you 
hold  in  dishonor  those  things  which  are  honored  of  the  gods. 

Ism.  I  indeed  do  not  hold  them  in  dishonor ;  but  to  act 
against  the  will  of  the  citizens  I  am  by  nature  incapable. 

Ant.  You  indeed  may  make  this  pretext,  but  I  will  go  to 
raise  a  tomb  for  my  dearest  brother. 

Ism.  AVoe  is  me  !  for  you  unhappy  !  how  exceedingly  I 
fear  for  you.^ 

AxT.  Fear  not  for  me  ;  direct  aright  your  own  fate. 

Ism.  But  do  not  then,  at  any  rate,  previously  disclose  this 
deed  to  any  one,  but  conceal  it  in  secret,  and  in  like  manner 
will  I  conceal  it. 

AxT.  Ah  me  !  speak  it  out.  You  will  be  much  more  hate- 
ful silent,  if  you  do  not  proclaim  these  things  to  all. 

IsM.  You  have  a  warm  spirit  in  a  chilling  enterprise. 

AxT.  But  I  know  that  I  please  those  wliom  it  most  befits 
me  to  please. 

Ism.  Ay,  that  is  if  you  shall  be  able  ;  but  you  long  for 
things  impossible. 

AxT.  Therefore  when  I  have  not  power  I  shall  cease. 

Ism.  But  it  is  not  fitting  to  pursue  at  all  what  is  impossible. 

Ant.  If  you  will  speak  thus,  you  will  be  hated  indeed  by 
me,  and  will  justly  be  hated,  in  addition,  by  him  that  is  dead. 
But  suffer  me  and  my  rash  counsels  to  endure  this  danger  ; 
for  I  shall  not  suffer  any  thing  so  great,  so  as  not  to  die  glo- 
riously. 

Is3[.  But,  if  it  thus  seem  good  to  you,  go  ;  and  know  this, 
that  you  go  indeed  unwise,  but  to  your  friends  in  truth  a 
friend. 

Chorus.  Beam  of   the  sun,-  that  hath  shone  the  fairest 

1  0('/(ot  raXaiPT)?-  dlcit  lioc  sensu,  Hei  mihi  propter  tiiam  uudaciam. 
— Herm. 

-  Musgrave  suggests  that  the  poetry  of  this  beautiful  pas- 
sage will  be  heiffhteued  by  supposing  the  Chorus  to  deliver 
their  address  to  the  sun  immediately  after  his  rise.  The  prob- 
ability of  it  is  confirmed  by  the  splendor  and  abruptness  of  the 
apostrophe,  and  still  more  by  the  moment  being  marked  when 
the  rays  of  the  luminary  begin  to  stream  over  the  fountains  of 
Dirce. — Te.     But  see  Donaldson. — B. 


IOI-I32.]  ANTIGONE.  129 

light  of  all  before  to  seven-gated  Thebes,  thou  hast  at  length 
gleamed  forth,  oh  eye  of  golden  day  !  coming  above  the 
channels  of  Dirce's  streams,  having  driven  a  liasty  onward 
fugitive  with  keener-urged  rein  the  chief  of  the  silver  sliield,^ 
'who  came  from  Argos  with  all  his  panoply — Avhoni,^  shrilly 
clamoring  against  our  land,  uproused  by  a  doubtful  contest, 
Polynices,  like  an  eagle  hovered  over  the  earth  covered  with 
the  wing  of  white  snow,  with  many  a  shield,  and  with  plumed 
helms.  And  having  taken  his  stand  above  our  palaces,  raven- 
ing all  around  with  bloody  spears  the  outlets  of  the  seven  gates, 
he  departed  before  that  he  had  gorged  his  jaws  with  our 
blood,  and  pitchy  flame  had  seized  the  coronet  of  our  towers  : 
such  a  martial  clatter  was  raised  in  his  rear  by  the  dragon 
his  match,  as  could  not  be  overcome.^  For  Jove  beyond 
measure  liates  the  vaunts  of  a  haughty  tongue  ;  and  seeing 
them  rushing  on  in  a  mighty  stream,  with  the  clangor  of 
gold,  and  in  the  pride  of  armor,"*  he  dashes  down  with  bran- 
dished flame,  him,  who  was  already  hastening  to  shout  forth 

1  Adrastus,  the  king  of  Argos,  and  leader  of  the  vanquished 
army  on  this  occasion. 

'^  The  explanation  of  this  passage  is  due  to  Mr.  Jelf,  in  his 
Greek  Grammar.  He  takes  Sf  d^Ja  kX^umv  together,  treating 
d^Ea  adverbially.  The  advantage  of  this  is,  that  we  need  not 
alter  HoXwsiKrisr  to  the  genitive,  as  Wunder  and  others  have 
done.  The  only  awkwardness  is  in  the  hyperbaton.  KXassiv 
is  used  in  the  same  sense  in  ^sch.  Ag.  48,  nsyav  Ik  dvjxov  kXu^ov- 
T£^"Aprjj  TpoTTOv  aiYVTricdv. — B. 

2  Verte;  talis  circa  tergum  {nquilaei)  infendebatur  Martis  strepifus, 
Iwstili  draconi  (Thebanis)  tradatu  difficilis,  miuime,  ut  Bruuck- 
ius  a.cGe\)it,i7ifmperab}lis. — Erf.  Hoc  dicit:  tantiis  a  tergo  con- 
citatuH  est  strepitm  Martis,  insiqjerabHis  propter  adversarium  dra- 
co«em.— Herra. — Tk.  I  have  translated  according  to  Donald- 
son's   view    of   the    construction:    toXoT    irar,      ' Ap.  d.    vcora    [roS 

aicoij]  dvT.  SpaK.  6vax.  EraOri.  Since  the  pursuing  host  had  proved 
a  match  (ai/riTraXo?)  for  the  conquered  Argives,  so  their  pursuit 
was  ^"(TX£pto}na,  a  thing  hard  to  be  overcome. — B. 

*  The  readings  here  are  so  uncertain,  that  I  have  preferred 
not  attempting  any  alteration.     Donaldson's  idea  of  joining 

Xpi'o-ov     with     pevfxari,    and     reading     Kamx^    0'    irrepoTrXo^'Sr     ("iu 

a    swollen  torrent  of   gold     advancing,    and    proud    in    the 
rattle  of  armor,"  is  his  translation),  seems  more  plausible  than 
the  other  elucidations  hitherto  attempted. — B. 
6* 


I30  ANTIGONE.  [133-159. 

the  strain  of  victory  on  the  summits  of  the  battlements.^  And 
the  bearer  of  the  fire^  fell  shattered  with  rebound  on  earth, 
he  Avho  then  raging  -with  frantic  spirit,  blew  upon  us  with 
the  blasts  of  most  hateful  winds.  And  in  one  quarter  a  dif- 
ferent fortune  indeed  prevailed,  but  mighty  Mars  leading 
the  right  wing^  and  thickening  the  fray,  directed  other  evils 
against  others.  For  seven  leaders,  marshaled  against  seven 
gates,  equal  against  equal  foes,  left  to  Jove,  the  god  of  tro- 
phies,* their  all-brazen  arms,  except  the  accursed  two  who 
sprung  from  one  father  and  one  mother,  having  raised  against 
themselves  tlieir  equally  victorious  spears,  both  shared  the 
lot  of  a  mutual  death.  But  since  high-renowned  Victory 
hath  come  with  joys  to  compensate  Tliebe,  the  mistress  of 
many  a  car,  now  indeed  let  us  forget  these  wars,^  and  let  us 
approach  all  the  temples  of  the  gods  with  dances  that  last 
through  the  livelong  night ;  and  let  Bacchus,  shaker  of  the 
Theban  land,  begin  the  revelry.  But  [cease],  for  Creon, 
son  of  Menoeceus,  the  new  king  of  this  land,  comes  hither, 
upon  these   new  casualties  of  heaven,   revolving  doubtless 

^  I  should  prefer  "at  the  very  edge  of  the  battlements,''  i.e. 
as  soon  as  he  had  set  his  foot  upon  them.— B. 

2  Capaueus,  who  threatened  to  give  Thebes  to  the  flames, 
and  who  was  struck  down  by  a  thunderbolt  while  he  attempted 
to  scale  the  walls.  There  are  masuificent  descriptions  of  his 
fate  in  the  Seven  Chiefs  against  Thebes  of  ^schylus,  and  of 
that  most  beautiful  of  plays,  the  Phcenissse  of  Euripides, 

3  A£f((io-£(po-,  literally  the  right  trace  horse.  The  Greek 
chariots  were  drawn  by  four  horses  abreast,  two  harnessed  to 
the  pole  and  two  in  traces.  As  the  turn  in  the  race-course  was 
usually  to  the  left  (v.  II.  23,  335),  the  strongest  horse  was  gen- 
erally placed  farthest  to  the  right.  Hermann  has  therefore 
justly  observed:  "Sic  appellavit  Martem  Sophocles,  ut  impet- 
uosum,  dextri  equimore,  significaret.  Pariter  ^schylus,  quum 
fortem  et  validum  vellet  indicare,  asipaipopov  Kpidvdra  -toKov  dixit 
Agam.  1651.  2." 

*  Or,  "  Jove  that  turns  the  battle." 

^  I  am  not  sure  but  the  construction  of  this  passage  pro- 
posed by  Erfurdt  is  better  than  Brunck's  :  "  -wi/  vvv  non  videtur 
ad  TznXe^iwv  pertiuere:  nam  et  languidum  foret,  nee  dicitur 
tKBeuBai  XTjanaavvrji',  sed  Qtcdai.     Quare  jugeuda  censeo  verba  sic: 

£K   TToAificov.   post   bellum,    deaOe   Xrjc-jxoavvav   rtJov    vvv,    obliviscaminl 

praeseutia,  i.e.,  funera  fratrum." 


160-197.]  ANTIGONE.  131 

some  anxious  thought,  since  he  hath  announced  this  assem- 
bled conference  of  senators,  sending  for  them  by  common 
proclamation. 

Creon,  Ye  men,  the  gods  have  again  established  the 
safety  of  the  city,  after  having  shaken  it  with  many  a  wave  ; 
but  I  have  sent  for  you  by  messengers  to  come  apart  from 
all,  both  knowing  well  that  you  ever  reverenced  the  might 
of  the  throne  of  Laius,  and  again,  when  (Edipus  directed 
the  state,  and  when  he  perished,  that  ye  remained  with  con- 
stant spirits  toward  his  sons.  Since,  therefore,  they  have 
perished  on  the  same  day  by  a  mutual  death,  striking  and 
stricken  in  suicidal  blood-guiltiness,  I  hold  all  the  power 
and  the  throne  by  afiinity  of  race  with  the  dead.  But  it  is 
impossible  to  ascertain  the  soul,  and  spirit,  and  judgment 
of  every  man,  before  he  shall  be  seen  tried  by  office,^  and 
the  administration  of  the  laws.  For  whosoever,  ruling  a 
whole  state,  applies  not  to  the  best  counsels,  but  from  some 
fear  restrains  his  tongue,  appears  to  me,  both  now  and  for- 
merly, to  be  the  basest  of  men  ;  and  whosoever  esteems  his 
friend  more  than  his  country,  him  I  hold  in  no  account. 
For  I — let  Jupiter,  who  beholds  all  things,  know  it — 
would  neither  be  silent,  seeing  ruin  in  place  of  safety 
coming  upon  the  citizens,  nor  would  I  ever  make  a  man 
who  was  hostile  to  my  country  a  friend  to  myself,  knowing 
this,  that  it  is  our  country  which  preserves  us,  and  that, 
sailing  in  her  unfoundered,  we  make  friends.^  By  such  laws 
as  these  I  will  exalt  this  city,  and  now  I  have  proclaimed  to 
the  citizens  things  akin  to  these  concerning  the  sons  of  (Edi- 
pus. Eteocles  indeed,  who  fell  fighting  for  this  city,  bear- 
ing the  palm  in  every  thing  with  his  spear,  I  have  com- 
manded them  both  to  enshroud  in  the  tomb,  and  to  conse- 
crate to  him  all  the  honors  that  fall  to  the  lot  of  the  gallant 

1  'Apxh  avSpa  Sei^ci,  from  which  Creon  borrows  his  maxim, 
was  an  old  proverbial  saying,  attributed  originally  to  Bias  of 
Priene,  one  of  the  seven  sages  of  Greece. 

'^  Creon,  though  an  absolute  mouarch,  dreaded  the  unpopu- 
larity of  his  sacrilegious  edict.  He  therefore  endeavors,  by  a 
great  mauy  plausible  expressions  of  patriotism  and  integrity, 
to  do  away  with  unfavorable  impressions  in  the  minds  of  the 
citizens,  and  to  extort  from  their  fear  an  approbation  of  his 
conduct. 


132  ANTIGONE.  [198-220. 

dead  below.  But  him  again,  the  brother  of  this  man,  I 
mean  Polynices,  who,  on  his  return  from  exile,  wished  to 
consume  utterly  with  flames  the  country  of  his  fathers,  and 
gods  of  that  country,  and  wished  to  glut  himself  with  kin- 
dred blood,  and  having  enslaved  the  citizens,  to  lead  them 
away — him  it  has  been  proclaimed  to  this  city,  that  neither 
any  one  shall  lay  with  rites  in  the  tomb,  nor  wail  over  him, 
but  leave  him  unburied,  and  behold  his  body  devoured  and 
mangled  by  birds  and  dogs.  Such  is  my  Avill ;  and  never 
from  me  at  least  shall  the  wicked  have  honor  in  preference 
to  the  just ;  but  whosoever  displays  good  will  to  this  city, 
shall,  both  in  life  and  death,  be  equally  honored  by  me. 

Ch.  The  same  things  please  me  as  please  thee,^  Creon,  son 
of  Menoeceus,  concerning  the  one  who  was  an  enemy,  and 
the  other,  who  was  a  friend  to  the  city ;  but  it  resides^  in 
you  to  use  any  law,  both  concerning  the  dead,  and  concern- 
ing us,  as  many  as  live.^ 

Ce.  See  that  ye  be  now  guardians  of  the  edict.* 

Ch.   Impose  this  on  some  younger  one  to  bear. 

Cr.   But  there  are  watchers  of  the  corpse,  at  least,  prepared. 

Ch.  What  farther  than  this  in  truth  would  you  yet  enjoin  ?^ 

Cr.  Not  to  give  way  to  those  that  disobey  this  mandate. 

Ch.  There  is  no  one  so  foolish  as  to  desire  to  die. 

1  Yoi  uon  ad  dptaKti,  sed  ad  ra  avrd  refertur.  subaiidito  alio 
prouomine  /u£.     Constructio  est,  dpiuKei  jxe  rd  avrd  a-oi. — Brunck. 

2  Diudorf  reads  Troirt  ttou  TzapsaTi  aoi,  which  Wunder  follows. 

Donaldson  -avraxov  Trdpeari  aoi. — B. 

3  The  Chorus  are  as  complying  and  servile  as  Creon  could 
desire.  Later  in  the  play  they  rather  change  their  tone;  but 
it  is  a  pity  that  they,  whose  office  it  was  to  deliver  the  lessons 
of  morality  and  virtue,  should  have  at  all  been  represented 
out  of  their  natural  character.  It  has  been  suggested  by  some 
that  the  poet  meant  to  gratify  his  countrymen  by  placing  their 
enemies,  the  Thebans,  in  the  contemptible  light  of  slaves. 
If  this  reason  be  true,  we  can  only  regret  that  he  was  induced, 
by  such  an  unworthy  motive,  to  deform  one  of  his  finest  pro- 
ductions by  a  disagreeable  incousistency, 

4  TTwj  liv  for  wj  dv  is  the  emendation  of  Dindorf. 

5  Hermann  defends  «AX(;:^  rendering  it  "  cur  ergo  etiam  alii 
hoc  maudatura  cupias?"  "Nempe,"  respondit  ille,  "  ne  quis 
negligi  imperia  mea  siuat,"  according  to  the  old  scholiast. — B. 


221-238.]  ANTIGONE.  133 

Cr.  And  in  trnth  this  at  least  is  the  reward  ;  but  gain  has 
oft,  by  means  of  hope,  destroyed  men. 

Messenger.^  O  king,  I  will  not  indeed  say  that  I  come 
panting  with  speed,  having  lifted  up  a  nimble  foot,  for  I  had 
many  lialtings  of  thought,  wheeling  myself  round  in  the  way 
with  the  view  of  returning,  and  my  mind  holding  a  dialogue 
with  me,  said  many  things.  ''  Wretch,  why  goest  thou  where 
coming  you  shall  suffer  punishment  ?  Yet,  wretch,  do  you 
stop?  And  if  Creon  shall  learn  these  things  from  some  other 
man,  how  in  truth  shall  you  not  smart  for  it?"  Kevolving 
sucli  thoughts,  I  made  out  my  journey  tardy  with  delay,'* 
and  thus  a  short  way  is  made  long.  In  the  end,  however, 
the  resolution  prevailed  to  come  hither  ;  and  to  you,  though 
I  say  nothing  agreeable,  I  Avill  nevertheless  speak,  for  I  come 
clinging  fast  to  the  expectation  that  I  shall  suffernothing  else 
except  what  is  fated. ^ 

Cr.  But  what  is  it  from  which  you  feel  this  faint-hearted- 
ness  ?* 

Mess.  I  wish  first  to  tell  what  regards  myself  ;  for  I  neither 

1  This  "A yyfXof  or  ^v\a^  (for  editors  disagree  about  his  desig- 
nation) is  a  very  prating  and  impertinent  sort  of  person.  Few 
tyrants  would  have  contented  themselves  with  saying  w? 
X<iXi7/<a  ^n^ov  EKirefpvKdi  el,  but  would  have  been  much  more  likely 
to  have  chopped  off  his  head  for  his  pains. — Tr.  I  can  not 
help  thinking  that  Mitchell,  Donaldson,  and  others,  have 
much  exaggerated  the  comic  powers  of  this  messenger-guard. 
Donaldson's  paraphrase  (for  translation  is  out  of  the  question) 
introduces  so  many  modern  conceits,  that  Sophocles  is  utterly 
forgotten. — B. 

2  Diudorf  and  others  adopt  the  reading  o-,\X;7  raxvg,  a  frigid 
antithesis,  condemned  by  Wuuder. — B. 

2  Some  commentators,  especially  Mitchell,  find  something 
very  witty  in  this  "  touch  of  fatalism,  coming  from  such  a 
presence."  Supposing  it  were  so,  there  would  be  nothing  very- 
remarkable  or  entertaining  in  the  guard  talking  like  every 
one  else  in  every  extant  Greek  drama!  But  the  fact  is,  to 
ixopaifxai/  simply  means  "death,"  expressed  by  an  euphemism, 
for  that  the  witty  (si  Diis  placet !)  guard  had  made  up  his 
mind  to  the  worst  is  evident  from  vs.  223.  Cf.  Homer  II.  xv. 
613;  xxii.  13.  Pindar  01.  II.  18.  Msch.  Suppl.  47;  Sept.  c. 
Th.  263.— B. 

*  Cf.  (Ed.  Tyr.  31Q  :  ri  6'  eanv ;  oTr  lievfio?-  £i<T£\fi\veaS-. — B. 


134  ANTIGONE.  [239-265. 

did  the  deed,  nor  did  I  see  who  was  the  perpetrator,  nor 
ought  I  justly  to  fall  into  any  mischief. 

Cr.  You  feel  your  way  carefully,  at  all  events,  and  fence 
it  all  round  ;  but  you  seem  about  to  signify  some  news. 

Mess.  For  dangers  in  good  truth  create  much  fear. 

Cr.  Will  YOU  never  speak,  then,  and  then  take  yourself 
off? 

Mess.  And  now,  indeed,  I  tell  you.  Some  one  has  gone, 
having  just  buried  the  dead  body,  and  having  sprinkled  tlie 
dry  dust  over  the  skin,  and  having  performed  the  proper 
rites. 

Cr.  What  say  you  ?  what  mortal  dared  this  ? 

Mess.  I  know  not ;  for  there  was  neither  stroke  of  axe, 
nor  aught  cast  up  by  the  spade,  but  the  earth  was  firm  and 
the  soil  unbroken,  nor  tracked  by  ruts  of  wheels,  but  the 
worker  was  one  who  left  no  trace. ^  And  when  the  first 
watchman  of  the  day  discovers  it  to  us,  painful  wonder  was 
felt  by  all.  For  he  indeed  had  disappeared,  yet  not  inclosed 
in  a  tomb,  but  a  slight  covering  of  dust  was  over  him,  as  if 
bestowed  by  some  one  avoiding  the  pollution  f  and  there  ap- 
peared no  marks  of  a  wild  beast  or  dog  coming  and  tearing 
him.  Then  revilings  were  uttered  against  each  other,  watch- 
man charging  his  fellow,  and  it  would  have  ended  in  blows, 
nor  was  there  any  one  to  prevent  them  ;  for  each  individual 
was  the  perpetrator,  and  no  one  was  convicted,  but  put  in  a 
plea  of  ignorance."^  And  we  were  ready  to  lift  masses  of  red- 
hot  iron  in  our  hands,^  and  to  pass  through  fire,  and  to  ap- 

1  The  messenger  wishes  to  clear  himself  by  insinuating  that 
it  was  not  any  mortal  power  that  had  performed  these  opera- 
tions. The  Chorus,  when  he  conchides,  expresses  the  same 
opinion  ;  But  Creou  was  not  to  be  so  easily  deceived. 

2  The  person  who  passed  a  dead  body  without  bestowing  a 
handful  of  dust  on  it,  was  held  by  the  ancient  superstition  to  be 
(ivayiis-)  polluted.  Archytas,  in  the  well-known  ode  of  Horace, 
enjoins  the  mariner  to  observe  the  pious  rite  : 

Quanquam  festiuas,  non  est  mora  louga,  licebit 
Injecto  ter  pulvere  curras. 

3  This  is  Donaldson's  explanation,  taking  (pevyew  in  its  legal 
sense,  of  being  defendant.  Dindorf  and  Wunder  read  aAA'  £0£- 
vye  Tta-  -d  //jj,  soil.  t^sipYaa-f.ievoS'  Eivai. — B. 

^  This  is  an  earlv  allusion  to  the  use  of  the  ordeals,  after- 


266-306.]  ANTIGONE.  135 

peal  to  the  gods  by  oath  that  we  neither  did  it,  nor  were 
conscious  to  any  one  who  devised  or  executed  the  deed.  In 
the  end,  when  there  was  nothing  gained  by  our  inquiries, 
some  one  speaks,  who  made  us  all  bend  our  heads  to  earth 
through  fear;  for  we  knew  not  how  to  object,  nor  how  doing 
it  we  should  prosper;  and  his  words  were,  that  the  deed 
should  be  reported  to  you,  and  not  concealed.  This  propo- 
sal prevailed ;  and  the  lot  seizes  on  me,  unhappy,  to  gain  this 
prize ;  and  I  am  present,  I  know,  unwilling  and  unwelcome, 
for  no  one  loves  the  bearer  of  evil  tidings. 

Ch.  My  mind,  O  king,  is  from  long  since  deliberating 
whether  this  deed  be  wrought  by  heaven. 

Cr.  Cease !  before  you  till  me  with  anger,  lest  you  be 
discovered  at  the  same  time  a  fool  and  a  dotard  ;  for  you  say 
what  is  intolerable,  saying  that  the  gods  have  provident  care 
concerning  this  corpse.  Whether,  highly  honoring  him  as 
a  benefactor,  have  tliey  buried  him  who  came  to  set  on  fire 
their  pillared  temples,  and  to  destroy  the  consecrated  gifts, 
their  land  and  laws  ?  or  do  you  see  the  gods  honoring  the 
wicked?  It  is  not  so  ;  but  the  citizens  bearing  these  things 
ill,  even  formerly  murmured  against  me,  secretly  shaking 
the  head,  nor  did  they  stoop  the  mane,  as  they  ought,  beneath 
the  yoke,  so  as  to  submit  to  me.  I  well  know  that  these 
men,  corrupted  by  bribes  from  them,  have  done  this.  For 
no  such  evil  institution  as  money  has  arisen  to  men.  It  lays 
Avaste  cities  ;^  it  drives  away  men  from  their  homes  ;  it  se- 
duces and  perverts  the  honest  inclinations  of  mortals  to  turn 
to  base  actions ;  and  it  has  taught  men  to  learn  villanies, 
and  to  know  the  impiety  of  every  deed.  But  as  many  as  for 
hire  have  done  this,  have  in  time  wrought  out  their  fate,  so 
as  to  suffer  punishment ;  and  if  Jove  still  has  reverence  from 
me,^  know  this  well,  and  under  an  oath  I  say  it  to  you,  if 
you  do  not,  discovering  him  who  with  his  own  hand  made 

ward  so  prevalent  in  Europe  during  the  Dark  Ages.  There  are 
many  miraculous  escapes  from  both  fire  and  water  detailed  in 
the  monkish  histories  of  Europe. 

1  "  Diffiditurbium 
Portas  vir  Macedo,  et  subruit  semulos 
Reges  muneribus." — Hor.  III.  16. 

2  The  scholiast  explains  this,  .ei  nixco  Kai  ak^m  rdv  ^.la,  xal  nfj 
emopKcj  avTOv. 


136  ANTIGONE.  [307-335- 

the  tomb,  produce  him  to  mv  eves,  death  alone  shall  not 
suffice  for  you,  before  that,  hung  up  alive,  ye  make  manifest 
this  insult,  in  order  that,  knoAving  whence  gain  is  to  be 
drawn,  you  may  for  the  future  seize  it,  and  may  learn  that 
it  is  not  fitting  to  wish  to  make  profit  from  every  thing  ;  for 
by  unjust  gains  you  will  see  more  ruined  than  preserved. 

Mess.  Will  you  grant  me  to  say  something,  or,  turning, 
shall  I  thus  depart? 

Cr.  Do  you  not  know  even  now  how  disagreeably  you 
speak  ? 

Mess.  Are  you  pained  in  the  ears  or  in  the  mind? 

Cr.  Why  ?  do  you  explore  my  grief  where  it  lies  ? 

Mess.  He  who  did  it  pains  thy  mind,  and  I  thine  ears. 

Cr.  Alas  me  !  how  plainly  you  are  by  nature  a  babbler.^ 

Mess.  I,  at  all  events,  am  not  the  man  who  did  this  deed. 

Cr.  Yes,  and  that  for  money  too  betraying  your  life. 

Mess.  Alas  !  it  is  hard  that  to  Avhom  at  least  there  are 
suspicions,  his  suspicions  should  be  false. 

Cr.  Talk  big  now  about  suspicion  ;  but  if  ye  do  not  show 
to  me  those  who  did  this,  ye  will  confess  that  wicked  gains 
work  ruin. 

Mess.  But  may  he  by  all  means  indeed  be  discovered  ; 
but  be  he  taken  or  not,  for  fortune  will  decide  this,  it  is  not 
likely  you  shall  see  me  coming  hither  again.  And  now, 
preserved  beyond  my  expectation  and  opinion,  I  owe  many 
thanks  to  the  gods.^ 

Chorus.  Many  are  the  mighty^  things,  and  nought  is  more 
mighty  than  man.  He  even  sails  beyond  the  sea,  when  whit- 
ened into  foam  with  the  wintry  south  wind's  blasts,  passing 
amid*  the  billows  that  roar  around  ;  and  the  supreme  of  di- 

^  I  see  no  reason  for  changing  XdXrina  to  a\rina.  The  former 
word  is  somewhat  like  the  KpowoxvrpoXrjpaior  of  Aristoph.  Eq. 
89.— B. 

2  Mitchell  observes,  "  The  Phylax  retires,  it  is  to  be  presumed, 
amid  much  laughter  on  the  part  of  the  audience.''  If  so,  their 
risible  powers  must  have  been  below  the  standard  of  the  New 
Cut.  An  audience  so  easily  excited  to  risibility  would  be  in- 
valuable to  many  a  modern  farce-writer. — B. 

^  Thus  Danaldson.     A  late  translator  has  "awful!" — B. 

*  This  seems  the  easiest  way  of  translating  v-o,  which  is  used 
of  the  vessel  cleaving  its  way  through  the  waves,  so  as  to  be 
partly  hidden  beneath  them. — B. 


336-355-]  ANTIGONE.  137 

vinities  immortal,  undecaying  Earth,  he  furrows,  his  plows 
circling^  from  year  to  year,  turning  up  her  soil  with  the  off- 
spring of  the  steed. ^  And  ensnaring  the  brood  of  light- 
minded  birds,^  he  bears  them  away  as  his  prey,  and  the 
tribes  of  the  monsters  of  the  wild,  and  the  marine  race  of  the 
deep  in  the  inwoven  meshes  of  his  nets,  he,  all-inventive 
man  ;  and  he  masters  by  his  devices  the  tenant  of  the  fields, 
the  mountain-ranging  beast,  and  he  will  bring  under*  the 
neck-encircling  yoke,  the  shaggy-maned  horse,  and  the  un- 
tamable mountain  bull.     And  he  hath  taught  himself  lan- 

^  Although  i\\onti>h)v  may  refer  to  the  ^ovffrpocprjSdv  movement 
in  plowing,  I  still  have  strong  suspicion  that  we  should  read 
dpOTcop,  or,  as  others  accent  it,  dpoTuip,  "  as  seed-times  return  year 
by  year."    So  Hesiod.  spy.  448.     Gaisf.  !i  t   aporold  re  aiiixa  ^ipei, 

Kal  X£('/i(zroS"  o)pr]v  AeiKvvEi  6jx^pr]pov,      Soph.  Trach.  69,  tov  irapi^dovr 

apoTov,  and  825,  ^to^tKaro-  apoTos-.  See  also  Comm.  on  Virgil,  Eel, 
I,  70,  "Post  aliquot  ....  aristas."  That  the  verb  may  be 
rightly  thus  used  is  easily  seen  from  the  interpretations  given 
by  some  of  the  ancients  to  tlie  celebrated  passage  of  Plato's 
Timseus,  p.  530,  E.  Lfem.  cf.  Euhnk.  on  Tim.  Lex.,  p.  69  sqq., 
and  more  particularly  Simplicius  on  Arist.  de  Coel.  F.  125. — B. 
The  sense  will  thus  correspond  to  the  Homeric  nepiTsWonivwv 
tviavTCOv,  II.  II.  551,  VIII.  404.— B. 

2  I  can  not  resist  giving  my  readers  this  sentence  from  the 
translation  of  Adams :  "  He  traverses  the  hoary  main  in  stormy 
winds,  by  the  rattling  tumors  of  swollen  sails,  and  pierces  the 
supreme  incorruptible  laud  of  the  immortal  gods,  year  after 
year  returning  to  plow  it  with  horsekiud." — P.  189. 

3  KO"<poi'6u}i'.  Libri  omnes  Kovcpovhov,  meudose. — Bruuck.  In 
spite  of  this  authoritative  judgment,  we  are  inclined  to  think 
the  "  libri  omnes  "  are  correct.  Wakefield  approves  of  Koixpopecov 
in  his  notes  to  Lucretius,  VI.  743,  and  renders  it  "celeriter 
navigantium,"  a  meaning  much  more  applicable  to  the  passage 
and  consistent  with  the  general  spirit  of  the  Chorus.  An  epi- 
thet indicative  of  the  speed  of  the  birds,  heightens  the  diffi- 
culty which  man's  power  has  to  overcome;  and  we  find  in  the 
other  instances  that  the  poet  has  made  a  most  judicious  choice 
of  expressions  with  a  view  to  this  efi'ect.— Tr.  The  gloss  of  the 
schol.  K6vipu)T  Kal  raxsioT  cpspopiviov,  evidently  can  not  belong  but 
to  Ko^HpovUov,  which  Wunder  has  not  perceived. — B. 

4  I  have  translated  vTrdferat,  but  the  conjecture  of  Franz, 
oxpalerai,  is  Well  supported  by  Doualdson,  though  I  do  not  see 
the  necessity  for  reading  <,vy(X)v. — B. 


138  ANTIGONE.  [356-388. 

giiage  and  lofty  wisdom,^  and  the  customs  of  civic  law,  and 
to  avoid  the  cold  and  stormy  arrows  of  uncomfortable  frosts. 
Finding  a  way  through  every  thing  without  a  resource,  he 
comes  upon  nothing  in  respect  to  the  future.^  Of  the  grave 
alone  he  shall  not  introduce  escape  ;  but  yet  he  hath  devised 
remedies  against  baffling  disease.  Having  beyond  belief  a 
certain  inventive  skill  of  art,  he  at  one  time  advances  to  evil 
and  at  another  time  to  good.  Observing^  the  laws  of  the 
land,  and  the  plighted  justice  of  heaven,  he  is  high  in  the 
state  ;  but  an  outcast  from  the  state  is  he,  with  whomsoever 
that  which  is  not  honorable  resides  by  reason  of  audacity ; 
neither  may  he  dwell  with  me,  nor  have  sentiments  like 
mine,  Avho  acts  thus  — 

I  am  in  doubt  at  this  strange  prodigy  I  How  knowing  her 
shall  I  deny  this  to  be  the  maiden  Antigone  ?  O  wretched 
woman,  and  sprung  from  a  wretched  father,  OEdipus,  what 
at  all  means  this?  Sure  they  do  not  lead  you,  at  least,  dis- 
obeying the  mandates  of  the  king,  and  liaving  seized  you  in 
the  frantic  attempt  ? 

Mess.  This  is  she  that  have  wrought  the  deed.  Her  we 
found  employed  in  the  burial — but  where  is  Creon? 

Ch.  Eeturning  from  his  palace  ;  he  is  passing  out  to  meet 
the  opportunity. 

Ck..  What  is  it  ?  AVhat  chance  thus  coinciding  has  hap- 
pened ?* 

Mess.  O  king,  nothing  is  to  be  disavowed  by  mortals,  for 

'  I  have  followed  Hesychius  in  the  explanation  of  nvzf^Lozv,  as 
simply  meaning  riiyjAdi/  fxerewpov,  Brnnck  has  it,  "Sublimium 
rerum  scientiam,"  which  he  copies  from  the  -epl  t'.ov  f^isre-^pcov 
ciiXoo-^tai/ of  the  scholiast.  Erfurdt  and  Hermann  understand 
it  as  expressive  of  the  speed  of  thought;  but  Benedict  disagrees 
with  them  for  the  following  reason ;  "  Seusus  sublimes  doceudo 
quidem  instillari  possunt  humante  meuti,  non  autem  cogita- 
tionum  celeritas,  quee  major  sive  minor  ex  indole  cujusque 
natural!  dependet." 

'^  This  is  Donaldson's  interpretation:  '"with  plans  for  all 
things,  planless  is  nothing,  meets  he  the  future  I" — B. 

3  yepahojv  is  the  ingenious  conjecture  of  Musgrave,  approved 
by  Donaldson.     Wunder's  -epaivMv  is  absurd. — B. 

^  Donaldson,  "  what  hap  holds  sortance  with  my  coming 
forth  •?"— B. 


389-424.]  ANTIGONE.  139 

later  opinion  gives  the  lie  to  the  judgment ;  since  I  would 
confidently  have  maintained,  that  I  would  have  heen  slow  of 
ever  returning  hither,  on  account  of  your  threats,^  in  whose 
storm  I  was  formerly  endangered.  But,  for  the  joy  which 
is  without  and  beyond  the  hopes  resembles  in  magnitude  no 
other  pleasure,  I  come,  though  pledged  to  the  contrary  by 
oaths,  bringing  this  virgin,  who  was  detected  adorning  the 
tomb.  The  lot  here  was  not  shaken,  but  this  is  my  prize, ^ 
none  other's.  And  now,  O  king,  taking  her  as  you  please, 
yourself  question  and  convict  her  ;  but  I  freed  am  justly  en- 
titled to  get  rid  of  these  evils. 

Cr.  In  what  way  do  you  bring  her  ?  whence  taking  lier  ? 

Mess.   She  was  burying  the  man  :  you  know  all. 

Cr.  Do  you  both  understand  and  correctly  deliver  what 
you  tell  ? 

Mess.  Having  at  least  seen  her  in  the  act  of  burying  the 
dead  body  which  you  interdicted.  Do  I  relate  these  things 
clearly  and  plainly  ? 

Cr.  And  how  was  she  seen  and  found  taken  in  the  act  ? 

Mess.  The  circumstances  were  of  this  nature  :  For  when 
we  came,  threatened  with  those  dreadful  torments  by  you, 
having  swept  away  all  the  dust  which  covered  the  corpse,  and 
having  well  stripped  the  clammy  body,  we  took  our  seat  to 
the  windward  of  the  top  of  the  hill,  having  avoided  the  stench 
from  the  body  least  it  should  reach  us,^  each  keenly  rousing 
his  fellow  with  bitter  reproaches  if  any  one  should  be  sparing 
of  this  toil.  These  things  continued  for  so  long  a  time,  until 
the  brilliant  orb  of  the  sun  took  its  place  in  the  middle  of  the 
firmament,  and  the  heat  was  burning,  and  then  suddenly  a 
storm  having  raised  a  Avhirl wind  from  the  ground,  a  heaven- 
sent pest,  fills  the  plain,  watering  all  the  tresses  of  the  wood- 
lands ;  and  the  mighty  air  was  filled  ;  and  having  closed  our 
eyes  Ave  endured  the  heaven-sent  plague.  And  this  having 
departed  in  length  of  time,  the  maiden  is  seen  in  view,  and 

1  rarr  o-ais-  aireiXais-  propter  minas  tuas.  Vide  ad  (Ed.  Col. 
1280. — Musgrave. 

2  All  lucky  and  unexpected  gain  was  ascribed  to  the  kind- 
ness of  the  god  Hermes;  and  the  word  efj/iatov  refers  to  this  at- 
tribute, and  is  derived  from  his  name. 

•^   Constructio  est :   TrecpevyoTE^  dajxr^v  an'  avrov,  jxh  /3aAo(,  fugieutes 

odorem  ejus,  ne  nos  feriret. — Musgrave. 


I40  ANTIGONE.  [425-450. 

she  is  wailing  forth  the  bitter  note  of  the  plaintive  bird,  like 
■when  it  beholds  the  bed  of  its  empty  nest  deprived  of  its 
young.  Thus  also  she,  when  she  beholds  the  dead  body  bare, 
burst  forth  into  strains  of  grief,  and  baneful  curses  did  she 
imprecate  on  those  who  wrought  the  deed,  and  straightway 
she  brings  the  dry  dust  in  her  hands,  and  from  the  well- 
fashioned  brazen  urn  high-raised  aloft  with  thrice-poured 
libations  she  crowns  the  dead.  And  we  seeing  it  rushed 
and  immediately  seized  her,  not  in  the  least  appalled  ;  and 
we  accused  her  both  of  the  former  and  the  present  doings, 
and  denial  of  none  of  them  Avas  attempted.  But  this  to  me 
at  least  is  at  the  same  time  pleasing  and  painful ;  for  to  es- 
cape from  evils  myself  is  most  pleasing,  but  to  bring  friends 
into  misfortune  is  painful.  But  it  appertains  to  me  by  na- 
ture to  consider  all  tliese  things  less  important  than  my  own 
safety. 

Cr.  You,  you  bending  your  head  to  the  ground,  do  you 
confess  or  do  you  deny  having  done  this? 

Ant.  I  both  confess  I  did  it,  and  I  do  not  deny  that  I  did 
not. 

Cr.  You  may  take  yourself  off  where  you  please,^  free 
from  the  heavy  charge.  But  do  you  tell  me  not  at 
length,  but  briefly,  did  you  know  the  proclamation  forbid- 
ding this?- 

Ant.  I  knew  it.  And  why  should  I  not  ?  for  it  was 
plain. 

Cr.  And  have  you  dared  then  to  transgress  these  laws  ? 

Ant.  For  it  was  not  Jove  who  heralded  these  commands,^ 

1  Addressing  the  Messenger. 

2  Addressing  Antigone. 

^  Tliis  speech  of  Antigone  contains  a  fine  expression  of  high- 
toned  feeling  and  virtuous  resolution.  Nothing  can  surpass 
the  sublimity  with  which  she  alludes  to  the  power  of  princi- 
ple, and  eternity  of  duration  in  the  laws  of  heaven;  and  the 
touching  manner  in  which  she  consoles  herself  for  her  un- 
timely doom,  is  the  noblest  picture  of  devoted  heroism  triumph- 
ing over  nature  and  the  weakness  of  woman. — Tr.  This  pas- 
sage has  been  frequently  quoted  and  applied  by  other  authors: 
thus  Philostratus,  de  vita  ApoUou.  N.  38,  -pdr  ydp  ra  Xtpcjj/or 

Kripvyfiara  ci  cjv  e^eipyoi  iji\o(to  'jiav^  tariv  ftjiTv  to  tov  'Zo(pOK\£0\'?'  lap- 
/3aof,  "  ov  yap  ri  poi  Z£v~  ;>  o  Krjpv^aS'  race,"  ovce  yiovaai,  Kal  '  A-oWcjv 


451-487-]  ANTIGONE.  141 

nor  Justice,  that  dwells  with  the  gods  below  the  earth,  who 
established  these  laws  among  men  ;  nor  did  I  think  your  proc- 
lamations had  so  much  power  so  as  being  a  mortal  to  trans- 
gress the  unwritten  and  immovable  laws  of  the  gods.^  For 
not  now,  at  least,  or  of  yesterday,  but  eternally  they  live,  and 
no  one  knows  from  what  time  they  had  their  being.  I  was 
not  going  through  fear  of  the  spirit  of  any  man  to  pay  the 
penalty  of  their  violation  to  the  gods.  For  I  knew  I  must 
die  (and  why  not?),  even  though  you  had  not  proclaimed  it, 
and  if  I  die  before  my  day  I  account  it  gain  ;  for  whosoever 
lives  like  me  in  many  sorrows,  how  does  not  he  by  death 
obtain  advantage?"^  Thus  to  me,  at  least,  to  meet  with  this 
fate,  the  sorrow  is  nothing  ;  but  if  I  had  suffered  him  who 
was  born  of  my  mother  to  lie  in  death  an  unburied  corpse, 
in  that  case  I  would  have  sorrowed  :  in  this  I  sorrow  not. 
But  if  I  seem  to  you  now  to  happen  to  do  what  is  foolish,  I 
merely  incur  the  imputation  of  folly  from  a  fool. 

Ch.  The  spirit  of  the  daughter  shows  itself  stern  from  a 
stern  father,  and  she  knows  not  to  yield  to  misfortune. 

Cr.  But  know  in  truth  that  too  stern  spirits  bend  the 
most ;  and  you  will  most  frequently  see  the  hardest  steel, 
forged  in  the  fire  till  brittle,  shivered  and  broken  ;  and  I 
have  known  high-mettled  horses  disciplined  by  a  small  bit ; 
for  it  is  not  right  for  him  to  have  proud  thoughts  whosoever 
is  the  slave  of  others.  She  indeed  then  first  learned  to  be 
guilty  of  insolence,  transgressing  the  ordained  laws ;  and 
this,  wlien  she  had  done  it,  is  the  second  insult,  to  glory  in 
such  deeds,  and  to  laugh  having  done  them.  In  sooth, 
then,  I  am  no  man,  but  she  a  man,  if  this  victory  shall  ac- 
crue to  her  without  hurt.  But  whether  she  be  sprung  from 
my  sister,  or  one  more  near  of  blood  than  all  beneath  the 

XiSyior.  On  laws  as  sprung  from  the  gods,  cf.  (Ed.  Tyr.  867; 
Plato  Legg.  I.  1. ;  and  Minos,  p.  46.  Dion  Chrys.  Or.  i.  p.  56. 
Cicero  Tusc.  Q.  11.  13,  on  the  aypacpoi  vo^oi^  cf.  Aristot.  Ehet.  I. 
10  and  13.— B. 

1  This  may  either  refer,  as  I  have  taken  it,  to  Creon,  or  to 
Antigone  herself:  "so  as  being  a  mortal  I  should  venture  to 
transgress  these  laws."  There  is  this  objection,  however,  to 
the  latter  mode,  that  vTzEprpix^iv  does  not  so  properly  mean 
violare,  as  superare,  vincere.     Vide  Benedict.  Obs.  117, 

2  Toy  ^7/£  0£  XuTrpaJr  Kpslaaov  earl  KarBaveXv.   Eurip.  Troad.  V.  632. 


142  ANTIGONE.  [488-510. 

protection  of  our  household  god,^  she  and  her  sister  shall 
not  escape  the  most  wretched  fate ;  for  I  charge  her 
equally  with  having  planned  the  measures  respecting 
this  burial.  And  summon  her ;  for  Just  now  I  saw  her 
within  raving,  not  possessed  of  her  senses  ;  and  the  mind 
of  those  who  unjustly  devise  anything  in  the  dark,  is  wont 
to  be  prematurely  detected  in  its  fraud. ^  I  indeed  at  least 
hate  when  any  one,  discovered  in  guilt,  may  then  wish  to 
gloss  it  over. 

Ant.  Do  you  wish  any  thing  more  than  taking  me  to  put 
me  to  death  ? 

Cr.  I  indeed  wish  nothing  more.    Having  this  I  have  all. 

Ant.  'Why  in  truth  do  you  delay?  since  to  me  none  of 
your  words  are  pleasing,  nor  may  they  ever  be  pleasing ; 
and  in  like  manner  also,  to  you  mine  are  naturally  dis- 
pleasing. And  yet  whence  could  I  have  gained  a  glory  of 
higher  renown  than  by  laying  my  own  brother  in  the  tomb? 
It  would  be  said  that  this  was  approve  3  of  by  all  these,  did 
not  fear  seal  their  tongues.  But  regal  power  is  fortunate  in 
many  other  things,  and  in  this,  that  it  is  allowed  to  say  and 
to  do  what  it  pleases. 

Cr.   You  alone  of  these  Cadmeans  view  it  in  this  light. 

Ant.  These  also  view  it  in  the  same  light,  but  for  you 
they  close  the  lips. 

Cr.  And  are  you  not  ashamed  if  you  have  sentiments 
different  from  theirs  ? 

^  The  meaning  of  the  phrase  rov  Travrd-  Zrivdr  'F.pKclov  can 
only  be  expressed,  as  the  reader  will  easily  perceive,  by  a  peri- 
phrasis. Tlie  altar  of  Heresean  Jove  stood  in  the  court  of 
every  house;  and  he  was  worshiped,  as  his  name  imports,  in 
the  light  of  its  guardian  and  defender. — Tr.  But  surely  Zrivos 
£fjK€iov  means  nothing  more  than  "  our  whole  house,"  as  *'pe- 
uates"  would  be  used  in  Latin. — B. 

'^  K^oTrevs.  Coujungocum  npoaeev  ijpr]aeai,  ut  constructiosit :  0  ce 

6"fidg  Toiv  ev  ckotm ur)6iv  opOcog  T£Xv(>iptvMv^  (piXsT  -pocBsv  K\oTrevg  TJpiiaOai. 

"Mens  autem  eorum,  qui  in  tenebris  pravi  aliquid  nioliuntiir, 
solet  prius  malefica  convinci,  ^'.e ,  maleficii  conviuci." — Mus- 
grave.  "Mens  eorum,  qui  aliquid  sceleris  clam  moliuntur, 
quum  alioqui  sit  illius  occultatrix,  solet  tameu  prius  deprehen- 
di."  H.  Stephauus.  This  latter  explauatioii  is  obscurum  per 
obscurius  with  a  vengeance. 


5II-530.]  ANTIGONE.  143 

Ant,  No,  for  it  is  nothing  shameful  to  revere  those  who 
sprung  from  the  same  womb. 

Cr.  Was  not  he  also  your  brother  who  fell  on  the  oppo- 
site side  ? 

Ant.  He  was  my  brother  from  one  mother  and  the  same 
father.  ^ 

Cr.  How  then  do  vou  award  an  honor  that  is  impious  to 
him? 

Ant.  The  dead  below  the  earth  will  not  testify  this. 

Cr.  He  will,  if  you  honor  him  equally  with  the  impious. 

Ant.  For  not  in  aught  a  slave,  but  my  brother  he  fell. 

Cr.  Laying  waste  at  least  this  land,  but  the  other  resist- 
ing in  its  defense. 

Ant.  Still  the  grave  at  least  desires  equal  laws. 

Cr.   But  not  the  good  to  obtain  an  equal  share  with  the  bad. 

Ant.  Who  knows  if  these  things  are  held  holy  below? 

Cr.  Never  at  all  is  the  enemy,  not  even  in  death,  a  friend.^ 

Ant.  I  have  been  formed  by  nature  not  to  join  in  hatred, 
but  to  join  in  love. 

Cr.  Going  now  below,  if  you  must  love,  love  them ;  but 
while  I  live,  a  woman  shall  not  rule. 

Ch.  And  in  truth  before  the  gates  here  comes  Ismene, 
letting  fall  the  tears  of  a  sister's  love,  and  the  cloud  on  her 
brow  bedewing  her  beauteous  face,  mars  the  glow  of  her 
cheek. 

^  "He  was.  The  original  is,  'He  was  my  brother  by  the 
same  father,  and  by  the  same  mother.'  The  Greek  writers, 
though  generally  concise,  are  sometimes  very  prolix,  as  in  the 
passage  before  us,  where  the  sentiment  takes  up  a  whole  line 
in  the  original,  and  is  better  expressed  in  these  two  words  of 
the  translation." — Franklin.  This  notable  person,  since  he  had 
not  the  taste  to  perceive  the  elegance  of  the  original,  may 
make  himself  as  happy  as  he  pleases  with  his  two  mono- 
syllables. After  having  the  presumption  to  think  himself 
qualified  to  improve  upon  Sophocles,  we  can  not  help  sug- 
gesting that  he  might  have  devised  something  much  more 
sublime  than  the  subject  of  his  self-congratulatory  comment, 
the  boasted  he  ivas. 

2  Euripides,  following  a  much  more  natural  and  amiable  sen- 
timent than  this  expressed  by  Creon,  makes  Polynices  with 
his  last  breath  speak  kindly  of  his  brother : 

4>iXof  yap  exOpds  iyher^  dW  '6jxi>)g  (piXo^. — Phoenissse,  1445. 


144  ANTIGONE.  [531-561. 

Cr.  But  YOU,  who  in  my  house,  like  a. viper,  stealing  on 
without  mv  notice,  sucked  my  blood,  and  I  was  not  aware 
that  I  nursed  two  fiends  and  traitors  to  subvert  my  throne, 
come,  tell  me,  do  you  too  confess  that  you  shared  in  this 
burial,  or  do  you  deny  the  knowledge  of  it  ? 

IsMEXE.  I  did  the  deed,  if  she  also  says  so,  and  I  partici- 
pate in  and  bear  the  blame.  ^ 

AxT.  But  justice  will  not  permit  you  to  do  this,  since  you 
neither  were  willing,  nor  did  I  make  you  my  partner. 

Ism,  But  in  your  evils  I  am  not  ashamed  to  make  myself 
a  fellow-voyager  of  your  sufferings. 

Ant.  Whose  deed  it  is.  Hades  and  those  below  the  earth 
are  conscious  ;  but  I  do  not  love  a  friend  that  loves  with  words. 

Is^r.  Do  not,  sister,  deprive  me  of  the  honor  of  dying  with 
you,  and  of  paying  the  rites  to  the  dead. 

Ant.  Do  not  you  die  along  with  me,  nor  make  yours  what 
you  did  not  touch.     I  will  suffice  to  die. 

Ism.  And  what  life  is  dear  to  me  bereft  of  you  ? 

Ant.  Ask  Creon  ;  for  you  court  him. 

Ism.  Why  do  you  pain  me  with  this,  being  yourself  noth- 
ing benefited  by  it  ? 

Ant.   Yet  I  am  grieved,  in  truth,  though  I  deride  you. 

Ism.   In  what  else  could  I  now  benefit  you  ? 

Ant.   Preserve  yourself  :  I  do  not  grudge  your  escape. 

Ism.  Woe  is  me  unhappv  !  And  do  I  fail  to  share  vour 
fate? 

Ant.  For  you  indeed  choose  to  live,  but  I  to  die. 

Ism.  But  not  at  least  without  my  warning  being  addressed. 

Ant.   You  seemed  wise  indeed  to  some,  but  I  to  others.^ 

Ism.  And,  in  truth,  the  guilt  is  equal  to  us. 

Ant.  Be  confident ;  you  indeed  live,  but  my  soul  has  long 
since  died,  so  as  to  aid  the  dead. 

Cr.  I  say,  as  to  these  two  virgins,  that  the  one  has  just 

^  Ismene,  whose  conduct  and  sentiments  we  have  always 
hitherto  found  disgusting,  continues  to  appear  here  in  a  still 
more  unfavorable  light.  She  would  fain  take  the  seeming 
credit  of  generosity,  and  yet  at  the  very  first  moment  she  in- 
sinuates her  innocence,  or  at  least  extorts  from  Antigone,  by 
her  saving  clause,  an  acknowledgment  to  this  effect. 

-  I  prefer  taking  roT;  ^h',  rpTj  c£  of  persons,  not  things,  not 
with  Aoyo(f  understood. — B. 


562-584.]  ANTIGONE.  145 

appeared  mad,  and  the  other  from  the  time  she  was  first 
born. 

Ism.  For  never,  O  king,  does  the  mind  which  may  have 
originally  sprung  remain  the  same  to  those  in  misfortune, 
but  is  changed. 

Cr.  To  you,  at  any  rate,  it  did,  when  you  chose  to  work 
evil  with  the  evil. 

Ism.  For  how  is  life  to  be  endured  by  me  alone  without 
her? 

Cr.  But  do  not  say  her,  for  she  is  no  longer. 

Ism.  But  will  you  kill  the  bride  of  your  own  son  ? 

Cr.  For  the  furrows  of  other  women  may  be  plowed. 

Ism.  Not  so,  at  least,  as  troth  was  plighted  'twixt  him  and 
her. 

Cr.  I  hate  bad  wives  for  my  sons. 

Ism.  O  dearest  Haemon,  how  your  father  disallows  thee  !^ 

Cr.  You  at  least  give  me  too  much  trouble,  both  you  and 
the  marriage  you  talk  of. 

Ism.  What  !  Avill  you  deprive  your  own  son  of  her? 

Cr.  The  grave  was  destined  to  put  a  stop  to  this  marriage. 

Ism.   'Tis  destined,  as  it  seems,  that  she  shall  die. 

Cr.  E'en  as  thou  thinkest,  so  I.^  Make  no  more  delay,^ 
but  conduct  her,  ye  slaves,  within  ;  and  from  this  time  it  is 
fitting  that  these  women  should  not  be  left  at  liberty,  for 
even  the  bold  fly,  when  they  already  see  the  close  of  life 
near. 

Ch.*  Blessed  are  they  to  whom  ther6  is  a  life  that  tastes 
not  of  misfortune  ;  for  to  w' homsoever  their  house  shall  have 

1  This  verse  is  by  Boeck,  Wunder,  and  others,  rightly  assigned 
to  Antigoue.  But  Schlegel,  p.  105,  and  Bulwer,  Athens,  V.  4,  7, 
prefer  giving  it  to  Ismene. — B. 

'^  So  Wuuder;  "Ut  tibi  quidem  videtur  a  me  decretum  esse, 
ita  mihi  videtur.'' — B. 

3  Tp(/3as  is  governed  by  -ouXte  or  aysre,  or  some  such  word  un- 
derstood. Musgrave  very  well  remarks  that  there  is  no  more 
fitting  occasion  for  an  ellipsis  than  when  the  haste  of  an  angry 
man  is  to  be  painted. 

*  This  Chorus  is  enriched  with  some  of  the  most  sublime 
imagery  and  conception  to  be  met  with  iu  any  poet.  The  lines, 
in  particular,  which  celebrate  the  power  of  Jupiter  are  grand 
beyond  expression, 

7 


146  ANTIGONE.  [585-634. 

been  shaken  by  heaven,  nought  of  mischief  is  wanting,  lurking 
through  the  fulness  of  their  race  ;  like  as  when  beneath  the 
sea-traversing  malignant  Thracian  blasts  a  billow  runs  over 
the  marine  darkness,  it  stirs  up  from  the  deep  the  black  and 
storm-tossed  shingle,  and  the  wave-lashed  shores  moan  with 
the  roar.  I  see  the  ancient  sufferings  of  the  house  of  Labdacus 
following  on  the  sufferings  of  the  dead  ;  nor  does  one  genera- 
tion quit  the  race,^  but  some  one  of  the  gods  keeps  felling  it, 
nor  has  it  a  moment's  release.  For  now  what  light  was  spread 
above  the  last  root  in  the  house  of  (Edipus,  again  the  death- 
ful  dust^  of  the  infernal  powers  sweeps  it  away,  and  frenzy 
of  words,  and  the  mad  fury  of  the  mind.  O  Jove  !  what  dar- 
ing pride  of  mortals  can  control  thy  power,  which  neither 
the  sleep  which  leads  the  universe  to  old  ftge^  ever  sei.zes,  nor 
the  unwearied  months  of  the  gods?  Through  unwasting 
time,  enthroned  in  might,  thou  dwellest  in  the  glittering  blaze 
of  heaven  !  For  the  future,  and  the  instant,  and  the  past,  this 
law  will  suffice  :  nothini?  comes  to  the  life  of  mortals  far  re- 
moved at  least  from  calamity."^  For  much  deceitful  hope  is 
a  gratification  to  many,  and  to  many  tlie  beguilements  of 
light-minded  love  ;  but  ruin  advances  on  man,  all-ignorant, 
before  that  he  touch  his  foot  with  the  warm  fire.  In  wisdom 
hath  an  illustrious  saying  been  by  some  one  set  forth  :  That 
evil  on  a  time  appears  good  to  him  whose  mind  the  god  hur- 
ries on  to  judgment,  and  that  lie  lives  for  a  brief  space  apart 
from  its  visitation. 

But  here  is  Ha?mon,  the  youngest  by  birth  of  your  chil- 
dren. Does  he  come,  lamenting  the  fate  of  his  betrothed 
bride  Antigone,  grieving  at  being  defrauded  of  the  nuptials  ? 

Cr.  We  shall  soon  know  better  than  prophets.  O  my  son  ! 
having  then  heard  the  ratified  decree  against  your  bride,  do 
you  come,  raging  against  your  father  ?  or  are  we,  in  what- 
ever way  acting,  dear  to  you  ? 

1  "  Atone  for,  or  pay  the  reckoning  of  the  race." 

2  See  Donaldson.— B. 

3  In  Liddell's  Lexicon,  the  conjecture  of  Eeimer,  TravTayrjpw;, 
"  never  growing  old,"  is  approved.  It  certainly  seems  simpler 
than  the  riayKparhg  of  Donaldson. — B. 

*  This  is  very  corrupt.    Donaldson  would  read,  vof.iog  SS'  avSpdr 

alaav.  "  QvarCiv  ^loroi  -rrafiTroXiT  eJaiv  nra  ;  "  In  all  the  life  of  mor- 
tals mischief  in  every  state  her  franchise  claims." — B. 


635-671]  ANTIGONE.  147 

HiEMON.  Father,  I  am  thine  ;  and  you,  having  good 
counsels  for  me,  which  I  will  follow,  direct  me  aright.  For 
no  marriage  will  justly  be  considered  greater  with  me  than 
you,  while  guiding  me  well. 

Cr.  For  thus,  O  my  son,  it  is  fitting  to  feel  in  your  breast 
that  every  thing  takes  its  place  behind  the  judgment  of  a 
father;  for  on  account  of  this  men  pray  that  begetting  chil- 
dren, they  may  have  them  obedient  in  their  house,  in  order 
that  they  may  both  repay  an  enemy  with  evil,^  and  honor  a 
friend  equally  with  their  father.  But  whosoever  begets 
useless  children,  what  would  you  say  that  he  did  else  than 
engender  toils  to  himself,  and  much  laughter  to  his  enemies? 
Do  not  you  now,  my  son,  for  the  sake  of  a  woman,  ever  drive 
away  your  senses  by  pleasure,  knowing  that  this  is  a  chilling 
embrace,  a  bad  wife,  the  partner  of  your  bed  at  home.  For 
what  worse  ulcer  could  there  be  than  a  false  friend?  But, 
spurning  her  as  an  enemy,  suffer  this  virgin  to  marry  some 
one  in  the  shades.  For  since  I  have  clearly  discovered  her 
alone  of  all  the  city  acting  with  disobedience,  I  will  not 
prove  myself  false  to  my  country,  but  will  put  her  to  death. 
Let  her,  therefore,  invoke  Jove,  the  god  of  kindred  ;  for  if 
I  rear  those  who  are  my  natural  kin  disorderly,  much  more 
shall  I  thus  rear  those  who  are  not  connected  with  me  :  for 
whosoever  is  a  good  man  in  his  own  family,  will  also  be 
shown  to  be  just  in  the  state;  but  whosoever  acts  with  vio- 
lence in  transgressing  the  laws,  or  thinks  to  command  those 
in  power,  it  is  impossible  that  he  should  meet  with  praise 
from  me.  But  whom  the  city  may  appoint,  him  it  is  proper 
to  obey  in  small  things  or  in  great,  just  or  unjust  ;^  and  this 
man  I  am  confident  would  rule  well,  and  would  be  willing 
to  be  well  ruled,  and  in  the  tempest  of  the  spear  would  re- 

1  There  is  a  strong  resemblance  in  this  to  the  sentiments, 
not  to  say  the  language  of  the  Psalmist:  "  Like  as  arrows  in 
the  hand  of  the  giant,  even  so  are  young  children  ;  happy  is 
the  man  that  hath  his  quiver  full  of  them  ;  they  shall  not  be 
ashamed  when  they  speak  with  their  enemies  in  the  gate." — 
Ps.  cxxvii.  5,  6. 

2  On  this  modest  idea  of  sovereignty  cf.  ^sch.  Choeph.  78, 

SiKaia  Kal  fii)  SiKaia,  ixh  irpknovr''  npxaig  fSiov,  jSuz  (pepojitvwy  aivea-at,  ttik- 

pov  cppsvnv  arvyog  Kparovar). — Seneca  Med.  195.    "  ^(luum  atque 
iniquum  regis  imperium  feras." — Plant.  Amphit.  I.  1,  19. — B. 


148  ANTIGONE.  [672-708. 

main  at  his  post  a  just  and  brave  companion  in  arms.  There 
is  no  greater  bane  than  anarchy  :  it  destroys  cities,  lays 
houses  low,  and  in  the  combat  with  the  spear  scatters  to  the 
rout  ;^  but  discipline  preserves  the  most  of  those  who  are 
under  rule.  There  must  thus  be  aid  given  to  those  that 
govern,  and  we  must  by  no  means  yield  to  a  woman  ;  for  it 
were  better,  if  necessary,  to  be  vanquished  by  a  man,  and 
we  would  not  be  called  inferior  to  women. 

Ch.  To  us  indeed,  if  we  are  not  misled  by  old  age,  you 
seem  to  speak  wisely  concerning  what  you  speak. 

H^.  Father,  the  gods  implant  wisdom  in  man,  the 
highest  of  all  possessions  as  many  as  exist.  But  I  should 
neither  be  able  nor  know  to  express  that  you  do  not  say  these 
things  aright.  For  another  indeed  it  might  be  proper.^  For 
your  interest,  then,  I  have  been  accustomed  to  consider  every 
thing  that  any  one  says  or  does,  or  has  to  blame  ;  for  your 
eye  terrifies  a  common  citizen  from  using  those  Avords  which 
you  would  not  be  pleased  to  hear;  but  I,  in  the  shade,  can 
hear  them,  in  what  way  the  city  mourns  for  this  virgin  ; 
how  she,  the  most  undeservedly  of  all  women,  perishes  by 
the  most  wretched  death,  after  most  glorious  deeds ;  she 
who  did  not  suffer  lier  own  brother,  having  fallen  in  the 
slaughter  unburied,  to  be  destroyed  by  ravening  dogs,  nor 
by  any  bird.  Is  not  she  worthy  of  gaining  golden  honor? 
Such  a  liidden  report  makes  its  way  on  in  silence.  To  me, 
father,  there  is  no  possession  more  honorable  than  your  pros- 
perity ;  for  what  is  a  greater  ornament  of  glory  to  children 
than  a  father  flourishing?  or  what  to  a  father  than  his  chil- 
dren? Do  not  now  bear  this  one  disposition  of  mind  only 
in  yourself,  that  what  you  say,  and  nothing  else,  is  right ; 
for  whosoever  thinks  that  he  himself  alone  has  wisdom,  or 
a  tongue,  or  a  soul,  such  as  no  other,  these  men,  when  laid 
open,  have  been  seen  to  be  empty.     But  it  is  no  disgrace  to 

1  Karaf'p.  rpoTza^j  i.e.,  Kar.  ioare  rpo-ag  eTvai.      See  Wunder. — B. 

2  Such  is  the  interpretation  of  Heath  :  '*  Fieri  quidem  id 
possit  ab  alio  (qui  filius  non  sit  tuus)  et  quidem  nou  iudecore." 
Hsemon  delicately  insinuates  that  the  conduct  of  his  father  is 
objectionable,  but  will  not  allow  himself,  from  filial  respect,  to 
Kive  vent  to  unbecoming  censure.  Brunck's  translation  bears 
about  as  much  relation  to  the  original  as  it  does  to  sense  and 
intelligibility  :  "  Est  tameu  ut  alius  etiam  vera  dicere  queat." 


709-736.]  ANTIGONE.  149 

a  man,  even  though  he  be  wise,  to  learn  many  things,  and 
not  to  strive  too  much  against  others.  You  see  by  the  chan- 
nels of  winter  streams  how  as  many  trees  as  yield  preserve 
their  boughs,  but  those  that  resist  perish  with  the  very  root. 
And  in  like  manner,  whoever  managing  a  ship,  having  drawn 
firm  the  sail-rope,  gives  no  way  ;  he  upsetting  her,  navigates 
for  the  future  with  benches  turned  upside  down.  But  yield 
from  your  anger,  ^  and  grant  a  change.  For  if  there  is  any 
judgment  with  me  too,  thougli  a  younger  man,  I  say  that  it 
is  far  the  best  for  a  man  to  be  by  nature  full  of  knowledge ; 
but  if  not,  for  it  is  not  wont  to  incline  in  this  way,  it  is  also 
honorable  to  learn  from  those  that  advise  well.^ 

Ch.  O  king  !  it  is  meet,  if  he  speak  to  the  purpose,  that 
you  should  learn  from  him  ;  and  you,  Hsemon,  again  from 
your  father ;  for  it  has  been  well  spoken  on  both  sides. 

Cr.  Shall  we,  of  such  an  age,  be  taught  wisdom  by  one 
of  his  time  of  life? 

H^.  Nothing  which  is  not  just  ;  but  if  I  am  a  young  man, 
it  is  not  fitting  to  retard  years  more  than  works. 

Cr.  For  it  is  a  good  work  to  pay  regard  to  those  who  are 
guilty  of  disobedience  ? 

Hje.  No,  nor  would  I  desire  you  to  observe  reverence 
toward  the  bad. 

Cr.   For  has  not  she  been  seized  with  such  a  disease? 

H.E.  The  people  that  dwell  together  in  this  city  of  Thebe 
deny  it. 

Cr.  Shall  the  city  dictate  to  me  what  it  is  proper  for  me 
to  ordain  ? 

H^.  Do  you  see  how  you  have  spoken  this  like  a  very 
young  man  ? 

Cr.  For  does  it  become  any  other  one  than  me  to  rule 
this  land  ? 

1  Dindorf  strangely  retains  6' ix(o. — B. 

'^  There  is  a  passage  very  similar  to  this  in  Hesiod,  whicli 
the  readers  of  Aristotle  will  remember  quoted  in  the  first  book 
of  the  Ethics : 

Keivog  jxlv  -rravapia-TOi,  Sg  avrdg  navra  vorjcrci 
^patrcromevog  ra  k    eneira  kuI  eg  ri^og  riaiv  afjieivoj' 
^Ea-Oxdg  ^'  ai)  KUKeTvog,  Sg  ev  eindvTi  friOrjrai, 
"Of  (5i  K£  jxriT  'avTOg   vokr)^  jjLr)r]  aXyov  olkovwv 
'Ej/  dvjXM  pa\\riTai,  06'   avr'  d^^pfi'iog  dvrip. 

Hesiod,  'Epy.  290. 
7* 


150  ANTIGONE.  [737-757- 

Hje.  Nay,  that  is  not  the  state  which  is  dependent  on  one 
man. 

Cr.  Is  not  the  state  deemed  the  possession  of  its  ruler  ? 

H^.  No  douht ;  in  an  uninhabited  land  at  least  you  might 
rule  alone. 

Cr.   He,  as  it  appears,  fights  in  alliance  with  a  woman. 

ILe.   If  you  are  a  woman  ;  for  my  care  is  for  you. 

Cr.  Oh,  utterly  basest  of  wretches !  quarreling  with  your 
father. 

H^,  For  I  see  you  committing  the  sin  of  injustice. 

Cr.   Do  I  sin  in  paying  reverence  to  my  own  dominion  ? 

H.E.  You  do  not  pay  reverence  when  trampling  under 
foot  at  least  the  honors  of  the  gods. 

Cr.  Oh,  accursed  disposition,  and  enslaved  to  a  woman  ! 

II.E.  You  will  not,  at  all  events,  ever  find  me  the  slave 
of  what  is  base. 

Cr.  All  your  speech  at  least  is  for  her. 

H^.  And  for  you  too,  and  for  me,  and  for  the  gods  below 
the  earth. 

Cr.  It  may  not  be  that  vou  should  ever  now  marrv  her  in 
life. 

HiE.  She  then  will  die,  and,  dying,  will  destroy  some  one.^ 

Cr.  Do  you  also,  threatening,  thus  advance  in  audacity? 

H.E.  And  what  threat  is  it  to  argue  against  foolish  opin- 


ions 


Cr.  To  your  cost  you  shall  school  me,  being  yourself  void 
of  understanding. 

JIje.  If  you  were  not  my  father,  I  would  have  said  that 
you  were  simple. 

Cr.  Being  the  slave  of  a  woman,  do  not  revile  me.^ 

H.E.  Do  you  wish  to  speak,  and  speaking,  to  hear  nothing 
in  return  ? 

1  Creon  evidently  supposes  that  Hsemon  threatens  his  life, 
mistaking  what  is  au  ambiguous  intimation  of  his  purpose 
of  destroying  himself. — Tr.  The  Covent  Garden  adapter  well 
rendered  it,  "  She'll  die — perchance  not  only  she.'" — B. 

2  KwriXxw  generally  means  ndulor,  but  here  it  is  necessarily 
taken  in  an  opposite  sense.  This  mode  of  using  the  same  word 
in  a  directly  contrary  signification  is  not  uncommon.  "QveiSo- 
is  a  marked  instance  of  it :  Qfi^ai?-  kclWigtov  vveiSos.  Eur.  Phoen. 
821. 


758-782.]  ANTIGONE.  151 

Cr.  Can  this  be  true?  but  know,  by  Olympus,  that  you 
shall  not  with  impunity  insult  me  with  your  upbraidings. 
Bring  the  hateful  thing,  that  she  may  immediately  die  in  the 
presence  of  her  bridegroom,  near  him,  and  in  his  sight. 

H^,  Never,  near  me  at  least,  think  it  not,  shall  she  per- 
ish ;  and  you  shall  no  longer,  beholding  it  with  your  eyes, 
see  my  face,  wherefore  thou  mayest  be  mad  in  company  with 
such  friends  as  are  willing  [to  abide  it]. 

Ch.  The  man,  O  king!  has  departed  abruptly  in  anger; 
and  the  mind,  when  pained  at  his  years,  is  dreadful. 

Ch.  Let  him  do  what  he  pleases  ;  let  him,  going,  feel 
prouder  thoughts  than  become  a  mortal ;  but  he  shall  not 
release  these  virgins  from  their  fate. 

Ch.   For  do  you  intend  to  kill  both  of  them? 

Cr.  Not  her  at  least  who  did  not  touch  the  body,  for  you 
certainly  suggest  this  well. 

Ch.  And  by  what  sort  of  death  do  vou  meditate  to  destroy 
her? 

Cr.  Conducting  her  where  the  way  is  untrodden  by  mor- 
tals, I  will  bury  her  alive  in  the  cavern  of  the  rock,i  only  set- 
ting forth  so  much  food  as  will  suffice  for  expiation,^  in  order 
that  all  the  city  may  avoid  the  pollution.  There,  imploring 
Pluto,  whom  alone  of  gods  she  reveres,  she  will  obtain  a 
respite  from  death,  or  will  know  at  least  then  that  it  is  lost 
trouble  to  pay  reverence  to  those 'in  the  shades. 

Chorus.  O  Love  !  unconquerable  in  the  fight.  Love  ! 
who  lightest  on  wealth,^  who  makest  thy  couch  in  the  soft 

^  "  In  arcam  inclusos  tradnnt  non  dissimili  genere  pcBnse 
Danaen:  Cycni  liberos  (Lycophr.  239),  Comatam  (Theocrit.  vii. 
78),  denique  Sotadem  poetam  (Athen.  xiv.  cap.  4)." — Musgrave. 

^  It  is  singular  that  in  all  cases  of  this  live-burial,  either  an- 
cient or  modern,  we  find  the  custom  prevail  of  leaving  a  cer- 
tain quantity  of  food  with  the  victim.  In  Greece  it  was  held 
impious  to  suffer  any  one  to  die  of  famine,  and  this  was  a  kind 
of  juggling  way  of  satisfying  the  conscience  that  the  pollution 
was  avoided.  In  modern  times  the  practice  seems  to  have  been 
continued  with  the  cruel  object  of  prolonging  the  torments  of 
such  a  horrible  existence. — Tr.  For  Oriental  illustrations,  see 
Lane,  Arabian  Nights,  vol.  iii.  p.  102,  note  35. — B. 

^  Donaldson,  partly  after  Reisig,  would  take  KTnuaai,  accord- 
ing to  Plato's  dictum,  that  men  are  the  KTrinara  of  the  gods,  and 


152  ANTIGONE.  [7S3-814. 

cheeks^  of  the  youthful  damsel,  and  roamest  beyond  the  sea, 
and  mid  the  rural  cots,  thee  shall  neither  any  of  the  immor- 
tals escape,  nor  of  men  the  creatures  of  a  day  ;-  but  he  that 
feels  thee  is  that  instant  maddened.  Thou  for  their  ruin 
seducest  the  minds  of  the  just  to  injustice  ;  thou  hast  stirred 
up  this  strife  of  kindred  men,  and  desire  revealed  from  the 
eyes^  of  the  beauteous  bride  wins  the  victory,  desire  that 
holds  its  seat*  beside  the  mighty  laws  in  rule  ;  for  the  god- 
dess Venus  wantons  unconquerable  among  all.  But  now 
already  I  too  am  borne  without  the  pale  of  laws,  beholding 
this  spectacle  ;  and  I  am  no  longer  able  to  restrain  the  foun- 
tains of  tears,  when  I  here  see  Antigone  passing  on  her  way 
to  the  chamber  where  all  repose. 

Ant.  Behold  me,  ye  citizens  of  my  father-land,  advanc- 
ing on  this  last  journey,  and  beholding  the  light  of  the  sun 
for  the  last  time  and  never  again  ;  but  Hades,  whose  cham- 
ber receives  all,  conducts  me,  living,  to  the  shore  of  Ache- 
ron, neither  blessed  with  the  lot  of  wedlock,^  nor  hath  the 

that  the  poet  means  that  Love,  by  his  attacks,  enslaves  men  at 
once,  rendering  them  K-fmara. — B 

1  Chife 

Pulchris  excubat  in  genis. — Horace. 
^  We  may  safely  put  in  contrast  with  this  Chorus,  though 
highly  beautiful,  the  following  lines  on  the  same  subject  from 
one  of  the  first  of  modern  poets: 

In  peace.  Love  tunes  the  shepherd's  reed; 
In  war  he  mounts  the  warrior's  steed ; 
In  halls,  in  gay  attire  is  seen  ; 
In  hamlets,  dances  on  the  green. 
Love  rules  the  court,  the  camp,  the  grove, 
And  men  below,  and  saints  above; 
For  love  is  heaven,  and  heaven  is  love. 

Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel,  Canto  iii.  2. 
^  1  Cf.  Eurip.   Hipp.   525.      '"Epojj   '"Epwj,   6  kut'    dmxa-coi'   'Era^eig 
noOov.     Achilles  Tatius  vi.  p.  375.   s-ciSri  elg  ra  omiara   -u>v   Kakwv 
TO  KtiXAof  Kadrjrat^  psov  SKeiQev  l-\  rov;  6  bQaXixov;  tmv  opovTMv. — B. 

*  But  see  Donaldson.  Whence  the  translator  got  "  in  heaven's 
rule,"  I  can  not  tell. — B. 

5  Antigone,  in  these  beautiful  and  swan-like  dirges,  more 
than  once  expresses  her  regret  for  never  having  experienced 
the  marriage  joys.  There  is  nothing  indelicate,  except  to  the 
eye  of  false  refinement,  in  this  candid  declaration  of  natural 


8i  5-857-]  ANTIGONE.  153 

bridal  lay  yet  hymned  me,  but  I  shall  be  the  bride  of  Ache- 
ron. 

Ch.  Nay,  but  renowned  and  enjoying  praise  you  descend 
to  this  recess  of  the  dead,  neither  struck  by  wasting  disease, 
nor  having  received  the  award  of  the  sword  ;  but  in  freedom 
and  in  life  you  alone  of  mortals  shall  descend  to  Hades. 

Ant.  I  have  heard  that,  by  a  most  mournful  fate,  perished, 
on  tlie  promontory  of  Sipylus,  the  Phrygian  stranger,^ 
daughter  of  Tantalus.  Her,  like  the  clinging  ivy,  did  the 
shoots  of  rock  subdue  ;  and  lier,  dissolving  away  in  showers, 
as  the  legends  of  mortals  tell,  the  snow  never  leaves  ;  and 
from  her  eyes,  that  ever  flow  with  tears,  she  bedews  the  cliffs. 
Most  like  her,  the  god  lulls  me  to  sleep. 

Ch.  But  she  was  a  goddess,  and  of  heavenly  birth  ;  and 
we  are  mortals,  and  of  mortals  born.  And  yet  to  you  a  per- 
ishable creature,  it  is  high  fame  to  meet  with  a  fate  like  the 
peers  of  the  gods. 

Ant.  Woe  is  me  !  I  am  derided.  Why,  by  the  gods  of 
my  fathers,  do  you  insult  me,  not  yet  dead,  but  still  beheld 
in  sight?  O  my  country  !  O  my  countrymen,  of  rich  es- 
tate !  O  ye  fountains  of  Dirce,  and  grove  of  Thebe,  the  re- 
nowned for  the  car !  I  take  you  withal  jointly  to  witness, 
how  anlamented  by  my  friends,  and  by  what  laws  I  go  to 
the  sepulchral  dungeon  of  my  untimely  tomb.  O,  woe  is 
me  !  who  am  neither  a  dweller  among  men  nor  shades,  the 
living  nor  the  dead. 

Ch.  Having  advanced  to  the  extreme  of  audacity,  thou 
hast  violently  dashed,  my  child,  against  the  lofty  throne  of 
justice.     Thou  payest  some  penalty  of  thy  father. 

Ant.  Thou  hast  touched  on  a  thought  most  painful  to  me, 

feeling.  We  find  an  equally  pure  illustration  of  the  same  sen- 
timent in  the  case  of  Jephtha's  daughter,  who  went  "and  be- 
wailed her  virginity  upon  the  mountains."  Her  example  was 
even  admired;  for  "it  was  a  custom  in  Israel,  that  the  daugh- 
ters of  Israel  went  yearly  to  lament  the  daughter  of  Jephtha 
the  Gileadite  four  days  in  a  year." — Judges  xi. 

^  Niobe,  who  was  changed  into  stone  for  having  bragged  La- 
tona  with  her  children.  Agathias,  an  old  quaint  fool,  has  the 
following  lines  on  this  hnrd  punishment: 

'()  rvfjilio^  OVTOT  e.ii6ov  ovk  exct  v^kvv^ 

'O  VCKpoS"  OVTOT  £KrO~  OVK  I'YEf    TO-ipOV. 


154  ANTIGONE.  [858-907. 

the  thrice-renowned  griefs  of  my  father,  and  the  fate  of  all 
our  race,  the  illustrious  children  of  Labdacus.  Woe  !  for 
the  curses  that  attended  my  mother's  bed,  the  incestuous 
connection  of  my  wretched  mother  with  my  father,  from 
which  I,  unhappy,  formerly  sprung  !  and  now  accurst,  un- 
blessed by  nuptials,  I  go  to  sojourn  with  my  parents.  O  my 
brother!  having  met  with  an  ill  fated  marriage,^  dying, 
thou  hast  destroyed  me,  yet  in  life. 

Ch.  To  act  reverently  is  an  act  of  piety  ;  but  power,  to 
whomsoever  power  is  intrusted,  must  not  in  any  way  be 
transgressed.     Thy  self-willed  temper  has  destroyed  thee. 

Ant.  Unwept,  and  friendless,  and  uuwedded,  I,  wretched, 
am  conducted  on  this  destined  way.  It  is  no  longer  allowed 
me,  unhappy,  to  look  on  this  luminary's  sacred  eye  ;  and  no 
friend  mourns  mine  unwept  doom. 

Cr.  Know  ye  not  that  no  one  would  cease  from  dirges  and 
wailings  before  death,  if  it  were  of  avail  to  utter  them?  Will 
ye  not  lead  her  as  quickly  as  possible,  having  inclosed  her, 
as  I  directed,  in  the  caverned  tomb,  leave  her  by  herself 
alone,  whether  it  is  fated  she  shall  die  or  lead  a  life  entombed 
in  such  a  dwelling.  For  we  are  free  from  pollution  as 
respects  this  virgin,  but,  at  all  events,  she  shall  be  deprived 
of  abode  above. 

AxT.  O  tomb!  O  bridal  chamber!  O  excavated,  ever- 
guarded  dwelling  !  where  I  go  to  mine  own,  of  whom  now 
perished  Proserpine  has  received  the  greatest  number  among 
the  dead,  and  of  whom  I  descend  the  last,  and  by  a  fate  far 
the  most  wretched,  before  having  fnltilled  my  term  of  life  ! 
Departing,  however,  I  strongly  cherish  in  my  hope  that  I  shall 
come  dear  to  my  father,  and  dear  to  thee,  my  mother,  and  dear 
to  thee,  O  brother  dear;  since  I,  with  my  own  hand,  washed 
you  when  dead,  and  decked  you  out,  and  poured  the  libations 
over  your  tomb  :  and  now,  Polynices,  having  buried  your 
body,  I  gain  such  a  reward.  And  yet,  in  the  opinion  of  those 
who  have  just  sentiments,  I  honored  you  aright.  For  nei- 
ther, though  I  had  been  the  mother  of  children,  nor  though 

^  Polynices  wedded  the  daughter  of  Adrastus,  king  of  Argos: 
and  being,  from  this  powerful  alliance,  induced  to  undertake 
the  expedition  against  Thebes,  he  met  with  his  own  death,  and 
entailed  a  still  more  wretched  fate  on  his  sister. 


908-936.]  ANTIGONE.  155 

my  liusband  dying,  had  mouldered  away,  would  I  have  un- 
dertaken this  toil  against  the  will  of  the  citizens.  On  account 
of  what  law  do  I  say  this?  There  would  have  been  another 
husband  for  me  if  the  first  died,  and  if  I  lost  my  child 
there  would  have  been  another  from  another  man  !  but  my 
father  and  my  mother  being  laid  in  the  grave,  it  is  impos- 
sible a  brother  should  ever  be  born  to  me.  ^  On  the  princi- 
ple of  such  a  law,  having  preferred  you,  my  brother,  to  all 
other  considerations,  I  seemed  to  Creon  to  conmiit  a  sin,  and 
to  dare  what  was  dreadful.  And  now,  seizing  me  by  force, 
he  thus  leads  me  away,  having  never  enjoyed  the  nuptial 
bed,  nor  heard  the  nuptial  lay,  nor  having  gained  the  lot 
of  marriage,  nor  of  rearing  my  children  ;  but  thus  I,  an  un- 
happy woman,  deserted  by  my  friends,  go,  while  alive,  to 
the  cavern  of  the  dead.  Having  transgressed — what  justice 
of  the  gods  ?  what  need  is  there  for  me,  a  miserable  wretch, 
to  look  any  longer  to  the  gods?  What  ally  can  I  invoke, 
since  at  least  by  observing  piety  I  have  obtained  the  reward 
of  impiety?  But  if  these  things  are  good  among  the  gods, 
suffering,  we  may  be  made  conscious  of  our  error  ;  but  if 
my  enemies  be  guilty,  may  they  not  suffer  more  evils  than 
they  unjustly  inflict  on  me. 

Ch.  The  same  blasts  of  the  same  storms  of  the  soul  still 
possess  her. 

Cr.  Tears,  therefore,  shall  arise  upon  those  who  conduct 
her,  for  their  slowness. 

Ant.  Woe  is  me  !  this  command  has  come  close  upon 
death. 

Cr.  I  give  you  no  hope  to  console  you  that  these  things 
shall  not  be  consummated  in  this  way. 

1  There  is  a  story  in  Herodotus,  of  this  very  principle  hav- 
ing been  acted  upon.  The  whole  family  of  Intaphernes  being 
coudemned  to  death,  his  wife  prevailed  on  Darius,  by  her  la- 
mentations, to  grant  her  the  life  of  one  of  her  kindred.  She 
chose  to  save  her  brother,  and  gave  the  same  reasons  as  Antig- 
one for  neglecting  her  husband  and  children.  The  two  ladies 
may  reason  very  subtilely  on  the  point,  but  the  principle  they 
go  upon  is  evidently  false.  The  original  institution  that  ''a 
man  should  leave  his  father  and  his  mother,  and  should  cleave 
unto  his  wife,"  is  no  less  agreeable  to  nature  than  to  reason  and 
revelation.  The  example  of  Alcestis  will  always  be  more  ad- 
mired than  that  of  the  wife  of  Intaphernes. 


156  ANTIGONE.  [937-982. 

Ant.  O  native  city  of  the  land  of  Thebe,  and  gods  of  my 
father's  race,  I  am  hurried  along,  and  have  no  more  respite. 
Behold,  ye  rulers  of  Thebes,  the  last  remaining  of  the  royal 
race,  Avhat  deeds  I  suJGfer  at  the  hands  of  what  men  for  hav- 
ing revered  religion. 

Ch.  The  form  of  Danae,^  too,  endured  to  change  the  light 
of  heaven  ;  in  dungeons  secured  with  brass,  and  concealed  in  a 
sepulchral  chamber,  she  was  bound.  And  yet  she  was  hon- 
ored in  her  race,  my  child,  my  child,  and  cherished  the 
seed  of  Jove,  that  flowed  in  golden  shower.  But  the  power 
of  fate  is  a  marvellous  one.  jSTeither  tempest,  nor  war,  nor 
tower,  nor  black  sea-beaten  ships,  escape  its  control.  To 
that  yoke,  too,  was  bowed  the  keen-wratlied  son  of  Dryas,'^ 
king  of  the  Edonians,  being  prisoned  by  Bacchus  for  his 
virulent  temper  in  the  bonds  of  rock  ;  and  thus  he  distils 
the  dreadful  venom  of  madness,  ever  bursting  up  afresh. 
He  knew,  when  too  late,  that^  it  was  a  god  he  had  glanced 
at  in  his  frenzy  with  reviling  words.  For  he  would  have  put 
a  stop  to  the  inspired  maids  and  the  Bacchic  flame  ;  and  he 
chafed  the  Muses,  the  lovers  of  song.  By  the  Cyanean 
deeps  of  the  double  sea,  the  shores  of  the  Bosphorus,  and 
the  Thracian  Salmydessus  (wliere  Mars  dwells  near  their 
cities),  saw  the  accursed  wound,  inflicted  with  blindness,  on 
the  two  sons  of  Pliineus,  by  a  fell  stepmother,*  a  darkening 
wound,  imprinted  on  the  wretched  balls  of  their  eyes,  with 
bloody  hands,  by  the  spear,  and  the  points  of  the  shuttle; 
and  pining  away  in  misery,  they  wept  the  wretched  suffer- 
ings of  their  mother,  who  bore  the  children  of  an  ill- 
fated   marriage.     But  she    owned  the   seed  of   the  sons  of 

1  The  Chorus,  in  this  wild  and  beautiful  strain,  console  An- 
tigone with  the  enumeration  of  other  fates  as  wretched  as  her 
own.  It  has  been  well  enough  observed  that  the  examples 
they  quote  of  Danae  and  Lycurgus  are  not  compared  to  her 
in  their  crimes,  but  their  suiierings. 

2  The  son  of  Dryas  was  Lycurgus,  who.  having  routed  the 
Bacchanalians  from  his  territory,  was  punished  by  their  god 
with  some  severe  doom,  here  described  as  imprisonment,  but 
variously  related  by  various  authors. 

•^  Donaldson  reads  Keii'o~ ETzeyvw  ct  cvai~. — B. 
*  Idaia,  who  barbarously  put  out  the  eyes  of  Plexippus  and 
Pandion,  the  sons  of  Phineus,  by  his  first  wife  Cleopatra. 


983-1013.]  ANTIGONE.  157 

Erecthens,^  of  ancient  lineage  ;  and  in  far  distant  caves  was 
nursed,  amid  the  storms  of  her  father,  a  daughter  of  Boreas,"^ 
rivaling  the  steed  in  swiftness,  as  she  bounded  over  the  lofty 
mountains,  child  of  heaven  ;  but  even  over  her,  my  daughter, 
the  eternal  Fates  prevailed. 

TiRESiAS.  Ye  princes  of  Thebes,  we  come  on  this  common 
way,  two  seeing  by  one,  for  the  journey  of  the  blind  is  made 
by  a  guide. 

Cr.  But  what  new  event,  O  aged  Tiresias,  lia^;  happened  ? 

TiR.  I  will  teach  you,  and  do  you  obey  the  prophet. 

Cr.   I  was  not  formerly  wont  to  depart  from  your  advice. 

TiR.  Wherefore  you  direct  aright  the  helm  of  this  state. 

Cr.  I  testify  the  advantages  I  have  experienced. 

TiR.  Consider  that  you  now  again  stand  on  the  very  edge 
of  fate. 

Cr.  What  is  it?     How  I  shudder  at  your  words  ! 

TiR.  You  shall  know,  hearing  the  signs  of  my  art.  For, 
sitting  down  on  my  ancient  augural  seat,  where  was  my 
station  for  all  augury,  I  hear  an  unknown  sound  of  birds, 
beating  the  air  with  ill-omened  and  unwonted  fury,  and  I 
perceived  that  they  were  tearing  each  other  with  bloody 
talons  ;  for  the  clashing  of  their  wings  gave  clear  indication. 
Being  alarmed,  I  straiglitway  essayed  the  divination  by  fire 
on  the  blazing  altars  ;  and  from  the  sacrifice  the  flame  burst 
not  forth,  but  on  the  ashes  a  clammy  vapor  kept  oozing  from 
the  thighs,  and  burned  up,  and  sputtered,  and  the  entrails 
were  scattered  in  air,  and  the  thighs,^  melting  away,  fell  out 
from  the  involving  caul.  Such  expiring*  omens  of  mysterious 

1  Her  mother  Orithyia  was  tlie  daughter  of  Erectheus,  and 
wife  of  Boreas.  It  was  on  this  claim  of  kindred  that  the  Athe- 
nians, in  obedience  to  the  oracle,  asked  the  aid  of  their  sou-in- 
law  Boreas  during  tlie  Persian  invasion. 

2  Bopeag,  dSog^  a  patronymic  appellation  for  a  nymph  descended 
from  Boreas. 

3  The  thighs  were  the  part  of  the  sacrifice  appropriated  to 
the  gods,  because,  says  Eustathius,  they  are  useful  to  men  for 
walking  and  generation.  It  is  clear  enough  that  the  thighs 
are  considerably  useful  in  these  important  functions,  but  why 
for  this  reason  they  should  be  peculiarly  acceptable  to  the  gods 
is  by  no  means  so  obvious. 

*  <i>eivovT\  evanescentia.  Mali  ominis  erat  in  ignispiciis  quic- 
quid  debile  et  evanidum  erat. — Musgrave. 


158  ANTIGONE.  [1014-1057. 

rites  I  learned  from  this  boy ;  for  he  is  a  guide  to  me,  and  I 
to  others.  And  the  city  is  atflicted  with  this  from  your  deter- 
mination ;  for  our  altars,  and  all  our  hearths,  are  full  of 
birds  and  dogs,  feeding  on  the  body  of  the  wretched  son  of 
CEdipus;  and  the  gods  no  longer  accept  from  us  tlie  sacri- 
ficial prayer,  nor  the  flame  of  the  thighs  ;  nor  does  bird  send 
forth  the  notes  of  propitious  omen,  being  gorged  with  the  fat 
of  human  gore.  These  things,  therefore,  my  son,  consider; 
for  it  is  common  to  all  men  to  err,  but  when  one  may  err, 
he  is  no  longer  an  unwise  nor  an  infatuated  man,  who,  hav- 
ing fallen  into  evil,  is  cured,  nor  remains  immovable.  Ob- 
stinacy incurs  the  imputation  of  folly.  War  not  with  the 
fallen,  nor  wound  the  dead.  What  prowess  is  it  to  slay  the 
slain?  Being  well-disposed  toward  you,  I  advise  you  well ; 
and  it  is  most  pleasing  to  learn  from  a  good  adviser,  if  his 
advice  bring  advantage. 

Cr.  Old  man,  ye  all,  like  archers  at  a  mark,  discharge 
your  shafts  at  me  ;  and  I  am  not  unacquainted  with  the  arts 
of  prophets,  by  the  race  of  whom  I  have  long  since  been 
made  the  subject  of  barter  and  traffic.  Pursue  your  gain, 
make  your  purchase,  if  you  choose,  of  the  amber  of  Sardis 
and  the  gold  of  India  ;  but  him  ye  shall  never  inclose  in  the 
tomb;  not  even  though  the  eagles  of  Jove,  seizing  him  as 
their  prey,  should  bear  him  to  the  throne  of  the  god ;  not 
even  thus,  dreading  the  pollution,  would  I  permit  his  burial. 
For  I  well  know  that  no  mortal  is  able  to  pollute  the  gods. 
But,  O  aged  Tiresias,  even  those  men  who  are  clever  in  many 
things  meet  with  disgraceful  falls,  when,  for  the  sake  of  gain, 
they  plead  speciously  a  base  argument. 

TiR.  Ha  !   does  any  man  know,  does  he  consider — 

Cr.  What  is  the  matter?     What  trite  saying  is  this? 

TiR.  By  how  much  wisdom  is  the  best  of  possessions? 

Cr.  By  so  much,  methinks,  as  folly  is  the  greatest  bane. 

TiR.   You,  however,  are  by  nature  full  of  this  malady. 

Cr.   I  do  not  wish  to  bandy  reproach  with  a  prophet. 

TiR.  And  yet  you  do,  saying  that  I  prophesy  what  is 
false. 

Cr.  For  all  the  race  of  prophets  are  lovers  of  gain. 

TiR.  But  that  of  kings  loves  base  gain. 

Cr.  Do  you  know  that  you  address  what  you  say  to  your 
rulers  ? 


1058-1091.]  ANTIGONE.  159 

_  TiR.  I  know  it ;  for,  having  preserved  by  my  means  this 
city,  you  sway  it. 

Cr.  You  are  a  skilful  prophet,  but  given  to  injustice. 

TiR.  You  will  force  me  to  utter  the  secrets  that  lie  un- 
moved in  my  breast. 

Cr.  Move  them,  only  do  not  speak  for  gain. 

TiR.  For  thus  do  I  already  seem  to  have  spoken,  as  far  as 
regards  your  part  ? 

Cr.  Know  that  you  shall  not  sell  my  resolution. 

TiR.  But  do  you  too  know  well  that  you  shall  not  any 
longer  see  to  their  end  many  courses  of  the  sun  in  rival  speed, 
before  that  yourself  repay  one  sprung  from  your  own 
bowels,  dead,  a  recompense  fortlie  dead,  in  return  for  having 
sent  one  who  was  in  upper  air  below  the  earth,  and  dishon- 
orably made  a  living  being  to  dwell  in  the  tomb,  and  for 
having,  on  the  other  hand,  detained  here  one  debarred  from 
intercourse  with  the  infernal  deities,  and  deprived  of  funeral 
obsequies  an  unhallowed  corpse  ;  in  which  things  neither  any 
concern  appertains  to  you,  nor  to  the  gods  above.  But  these 
things  are  done  with  violent  injustice  by  you  ;  for  this,  the 
Furies  of  Hades,  and  of  the  gods,  avenging  with  penal  con- 
sequence, lie  in  ambush  for  you,  that  you  may  be  enthralled 
by  the  same  misfortunes.  See  if,  induced  by  money,  I  proph- 
esy this;  for  the  lapse  of  no  long  time  shall  exhibit  the 
mourning  of  men  and  women  in  your  palace  ;  and  all  the 
states  shall  be  stirred  up  together  in  enmity,  Hhe  mangled 
bodies  of  whose  citizens  or  dogs  have  polluted,  or  wild  beasts, 
or  some  winged  bird,  bearing  an  unhallowed  stench  to  the 
altars  of  the  city.  Such  unerring  arrows,  since  you  pain  me, 
I  have  discharged,  like  an  archer,  in  anger  from  my  soul, 
and  their  warm  smart  you  shall  not  eacape.  But  do  you,  boy, 
conduct  me  home,  that  he  may  vent  his  passion  upon  younger 
men,  and  may  know  to  nurse  a  more  temperate  tongue,  and 
feelings  better  than  the  mind  he  now  bears. 

Ch.  The   man,  O  king,   has  departed,  having   predicted 

1  Those  states  that  had  joined  in  the  expedition,  and  whose 
dead  were  all  left  unburied.  Their  being  stirred  up  in  enmity 
is  a  prophetic  allusion  to  the  expedition  of  the  Epigoni,  who 
conquered  Thebes  to  revenge  the  misfortunes  of  their  fathers 
before  its  walls. 


i6o  ANTIGONE.  [1092-1129. 

dreadful  events  ;  and  I  know,  from  the  time  that  I  changed 
this  hair  into  white  from  black,  that  he  never  once  declared 
to  the  city  what  was  false. 

Cr.  I  also  have  known  it,  and  I  am  disturbed  in  my 
thoughts ;  but  to  yield  were  cowardly  ;  and  there  is  danger 
that,  by  resisting,  I  afflict  my  mind  witli  calamity. 

Ch.  There  is  need,  O  Creon,  son  of  Menoeceus,  of  prudent 
counsel. 

Cr.  AVhat,  in  truth,  is  it  requisite  to  do  ?  Tell  me,  and  I 
will  obey. 

Ch.  Going,  release  tlie  virgin  from  her  subterraneous 
abode,  and  j)repare  a  tomb  for  the  body  that  lies  exposed. 

Cr.  And  do  vou  approve  of  this,  and  think  I  ought  to 
yield  ? 

Ch.  Ay,  and  as  quickly  too,  O  king,  as  possible,  for  the 
swift -footed  vengeance  of  Heaven  cuts  short  those  who  are  of 
wicked  minds. 

Cr.  Ah  me  !  it  is  with  difficulty  indeed,  but  still  I  am 
changed  from  my  purpose  to  do  it.  We  must  not  maintain 
an  unequal  combat  with  necessity. 

Ch.  Going,  now,  do  these  things  ;  do  not  intrust  them  to 
others. 

Cr.  Thus,  as  I  am,  I  will  go.  But  ye  attendants,  both 
present  and  absent,  taking  axes  in  your  hands,  rush  to  the 
conspicuous  spot  ;  and  since  my  opinion  has  been  converted 
in  this  way,  as  I  myself  bound  her,  so,  being  present,  I  will 
set  her  at  liberty ;  for  I  fear  lest  it  be  not  best,  preserving 
the  established  laws,  to  close  life. 

CnoRrs.  O  thou,  who  art  hailed  by  many  a  name,^  glory 
of  the  Theban  nymph,  and  son  of  deeply-thundering  Jove, 
who  swayest  renowned  Italia,  and  president  o'er  the  rites  of 
Ceres,  in  the  vales  of  Eleusis,  open  to  all  !  O  Bacchus,  who 
dwellest  in  Thebe,  the  mother  city  of  Bacchanals,  by  the 
flowing  streams  of  Ismenus,  and  the  fields  where  the  teeth 
of  the  fell  dragon  were  sown  ;  thee,  the  smoke  beheld  as  it 
burst  into  flame  above  the  double-crested  rock,-^  where  roam 

^  Bacchus  was  rich  in  names,  chiefly  derived  from  his  attri- 
butes. They  were  Lyseus,  Leufeus,  Bassareus,  Bromius,  Euius, 
Eleleus,  Dithyrambus,  and  fifty  others. 

'^  aripoT^ — Xiyvvs-,  lucldus,  vel  candens,  fulgidus  vapor. — Mus- 


1130-1158.]  ANTIGONE.  i6r 

the  Corvcian  nymphs/  the  votaries  of  Bacchus,  and  the  fount 
of  Castalia  flows  ;  and  thee  the  ivy-crowned  steeps  of  the 
Nysian  mourftains,^  and  the  green  shore,  with  its  many  clus- 
ters, triumphant  send  along, -^  amid  the  immortal  words,  that 
hymn  thy  "  Evoe  !"  to  reign  the  guardian  of  the  streets  of 
Thebe,  whom  you  honor  highest  of  all  cities,  along  with  your 
mother  that  perished  by  the  thunder.  And  now,  since  the 
city  with  all  its  people  is  enthralled  by  a  violent  disease, 
come  Avith  healing  steps,  over  the  slopes  of  Parnassus,  or  the 
resounding  gulf  of  the  sea.*  O  leader  of  the  choir  of  flame- 
breathing  stars,^  director  of  the  voices  that  sound  by  night, 
youthful  god,  son  of  Jove,  reveal  thyself  along  with  thy 
ministering  Moenads,  the  Naxian  maids,  who  maddening 
through  this  livelong  night,  celebrate  thee  with  the  dance, 
thee  their  lord  lacchus, 

Messengee,  Ye  inhabitants  of  the  abodes  of  Cadmus  and 
Amphion,  it  is  impossible  that  I  should  ever  praise  or  blame 
the  life  of  man  in  whatever  condition  it  may  be  ;  for  For- 
tune always  raises,  and  Fortune  casts  down  the  prosperous 

grave.  This  smoke  or  flame,  or  both,  which  denoted  the  pres- 
ence or  approach  of  the  god  on  the  summits  of  Parnassus,  is 
frequently  celebrated  by  the  poets : 

to)   X.a[jinov(ra  nerpa  Trupor 

6iK6pv(pov  (Texas',  virip  oLKpwv 

BaKX£iMv.  Eurip.  Phcenissse,  237. 

Cfffa  TTvp  Trrjod  6eov 

BaKxelcov.  Eurip.  Ion.  1125  — Tr. 

On  the  light  which  was  supposed  to  shine  at  the  approach  of 
a  god,  see  Virg.  iEn.  I.  406  ;  II.  590.     Ovid.  Fast.  I.  94.— B. 

^  So  called  from  the  Cyprian  grotto,  their  consecrated  abode 
at  the  foot  of  Mount  Parnassus. 

^  There  were  various  mountains  of  this  name.  Nysa,  in  Eu- 
bwa,  is  supposed  to  be  the  one  alluded  to  here. 

■^  ''Triumphant  lead."  Such  is  the  force  of  Tri^nreiv,  when 
speaking  of  a  god  led  in  procession.  ^Esch.  Eum.  12,  niinrovcri 
6'  avrou  Kal  (re/JUovaii'  jxiya.  Sedulius  Paschal.  18,  uses  a  semi- 
barbarous  word,  "pompare:"  "  Grandisonis  compare  niodis.'^ 
With  the  whole  description  compare  Aristoph.  Thesmoph.  988, 
sqq. ;  Ean.  325,  sqq. — B. 

*  Crossing  from  Eubcea  to  Boeotia. 

^  Some  take  these  words  literally,  others  regard  them  as  fig- 
urative of  the  torches  borne  by  the  Bacchanals. 
8* 


l62  ANTIGONE.  [1159-1183. 

and  the  unprosperous,  and  no  one  is  prescient  of  what  is  de- 
creed for  mortals.  For  Creon  once,  as  appeared  to  me,  was 
enviable,  having  preserved  this  land  of  CadnTns  from  the 
enemy,  and  receiving  the  complete  dominion  of  the  country, 
he  directed  it,  happily  flourishing  with  a  noble  race  of  chil- 
dren ;  and  now  all  is  gone.  For  when  a  person  loses  the 
pleasures  of  life,  I  do  not  consider  him  to  live,  but  look  upon 
him  as  the  living  dead.  Let  him  have  great  wealth,  if  you 
choose,  in  his  house,  and  live  with  the  outward  splendor  of 
a  king  ;  but  if  joy  be  wanting  to  these,  I  Avould  not  jiurchase 
the  rest  with  the  shadow  of  smoke  compared  with  the  real 
pleasures. 

Ch.  What  burden  of  sorrow  on  our  princes  is  this  again, 
that  you  come  to  tell  ? 

Mess.  They  ai-e  dead  ;  and  the  living  are  guilty  of  their 
death. 

Ch.  And  who  was  the  slayer?  and  who  is  the  slain? 
Speak. 

Mess.  Hfemon  has  perished,  and  by  a  suicidal  hand  he  is 
dyed  with  blood. 

Ch.   Whetber  by  his  fathers  hand,  or  his  own?^ 

Mess.  Himself,  by  his  own  hand,  being  angry  with  his 
father  on  account  of  the  murder. 

Ch.  O  prophet !  how  correctly  have  you  declared  this 
prediction  ! 

Mess.  As  these  things  being  so,  you  may  deliberate  on  the 
rest. 

Ch.  And  in  truth  I  see  near  at  hand  the  wretched  Eu- 
rydice,  M'ife  of  Creon  ;  and  having  neither  heard  of  her  son, 
or  by  chance,  she  is  passing  from  the  palace. 

EuRYDiCE.  O  all  ye  citizens,  I  heard  the  rumor,  at  least, 

1  The  ignorance  of  fat-brained  commentators  has  led  them 
to  make  a  row  about  this  question  being  put  by  the  Chorus, 
after  the  Messenger  had  announced  the  death  of  Htemon  by 
his  own  hand.  The  scholiast,  simple  soul,  will  have  it  that 
the  Chorus,  in  their  agitation,  heard  no  more  than  the  words, 
"  Hfemon  has  perished."  Musgrave  and  Heath  blunder  in  an 
equally  pitiahle  manner.  Any  one  who  had  read  ten  lines  of 
Greek  poetry  ought  to  have  known  that  the  dying  by  a  kindred 
hand  was  considered  and  spoken  of  as  suicide. — Tr.  Cf.  Lid- 
dell,  s.  v.— B. 


II84-I222.]  ANTIGONE.  163 

as  I  Avas  going  out  in  order  that  I  might  repair  to  the  temple 
of  the  goddess  Pallas,  lier  suppliant  in  prayer  ;  and  I  chance 
to  be  undoing  the  bars  of  the  fastened  gate,  and  the  voice  of 
domestic  affliction  strikes  my  ears.  Moved  by  terror,  I  fall 
prostrate  in  the  arms  of  my  attendants  and  faint  away.  But 
Avhatever  was  the  tale,  repeat  it  ;  for  not  untried  by  misfor- 
tune, I  shall  hear  it. 

Mess.  I,  my  dear  mistress,  being  present,  will  tell  it,  and 
I  will  not  omit  a  word  of  the  truth.  For  why  should  1  alle- 
viate that  to  you  in  which  I  should  afterward  be  detected 
of  falsehood?  The  truth  is  always  right.  I  followed  your 
husband  an  attendant  on  foot  to  the  extremity  of  the  plain, 
where  still  lay  the  unpitied  body  of  Polynices,  mangled  by 
dogs ;  and  him,  indeed,  having  implored  the  goddess  that  is 
placed  in  the  highways,^  and  Pluto  to  have  a  gracious  will, 
we  bathed  with  holy  lavations,  and  having  consumed  what 
remained  of  the  body,  with  fresh-plucked  boughs,  and  piled 
up  a  lofty  barrow  of  his  native  soil,  we  again  repair  to  the 
rocky  cavern,  the  bridal  chamber  of  the  grave's  betrothed. 
And  some  one  hears  at  a  distance  the  voice  of  loud  lament 
beside  that  unconsecrated  chamber,  and  hastening  he  tells  it 
to  our  master,  Creon  ;  but  round  him,  as  he  approached 
nearer,  there  float  the  indistinct  notes  of  wretched  wailing, 
and  shrieking,  he  utters  these  mournful  words:  "O  un- 
happy me  !  am  I  then  a  true  prophet?  Do  I  now  advance 
on  the  most  ill  fated  Avay  of  all  that  I  have  gone  before  ? 
The  voice  of  my  son  greets^  me.  Go  with  speed,  ye  attend- 
ants, nearer,  and  standing  by  the  tomb,  ascertain,  having 
penetrated  the  cleft  made  by  drawing  away  the  stone  close 
to  the  mouth,  whether  I  hear  the  voice  of  H<3emon,  or  am 
deceived  by  the  gods."  On  the  command  of  our  despond- 
ing master  we  examined  the  place,  and  we  see  in  the  extrem- 
ity of  the  tomb  the  virgin,  hanging  by  the  neck,  suspended 
in  the  woven  noose  of  her  linen  robe,  and  the  youth  lying 
beside  her,  with  his  arms  around  her  waist,   deploring  the 

1  Trivia,  Hecate,  or  Proserpine. 

2  (raivei.  There  is  some  difficulty  in  this  word.  Perhaps  if 
we  consider  the  provincialism  by  which  "greeting"  is  used 
for  "  weeping,"  the  word  will  appear  less  inapposite  than  other- 
wise.— B. 


l64  ANTIGONE.  [i  223-1 248. 

destruction  of  his  bride  below  the  earth,  and  the  deeds  of 
his  father,  and  his  ill-starred  nuptials.  But  Creon,  when 
he  sees  him,  having  uttered  a  dismal  groan,  goes  in  toward 
him,  and  in  the  loud  tone  of  grief  calls  on  him:  "O 
Avretched  man,  what  sort  of  deed  have  you  done?  What 
mind  had  you?  In  what  circumstances  of  calamity 
are  you  ruined  ?  Come  forth,  my  son,  suppliant  I  beseech 
you."  But  his  son,  ghiring  on  him  with  savage  eyes,  spit- 
ting on  liis  face,^  and  replying  nothing,  draws  his  double- 
edged  sword  ;-  but  his  father  rushing  aAvay  in  flight,  he 
missed  him ;  then  the  ill-fated  man,  enraged  with  himself, 
immediately  stretching  out"*  the  sword,  drove  it  to  the  mid- 
dle in  his  side,  and  still  in  possession  of  his  senses,  with  his 
enfeebled  arm  he  embraces  the  virgin,*  and  gasping,  he  casts 
a  swift  gush  of  gory  drops  on  her  pallid  cheek.  And  dead 
by  the  dead  the  hapless  youth  lies,  having  obtained  his  nup- 
tial rites  in  the  mansions  of  Pluto,  a  proof  to  the  world  of 
rashness,  how  it  attaclies  to  man  the  greatest  of  his  ills. 

Ch.  What  can  you  conjecture  this  to  mean?  The  woman 
has  some  time  since  disappeared  before  uttering  word,  good 
or  bad.^ 

Mess.  I  myself  am  also  astonished  ;  but  I  live  in  the  hope 
that,  hearing  the  calamities  of  her  son,  she  does  not  deign 
to  make  her  lamentations  public,  but  within,  beneath  the 

1  I  prefer  "  spurning  him  with  his  glance."'  Bulwer  adheres 
to  the  other  interpretation. — B. 

■^  Aristotle  very  justly  finds  fault  with  this  incident.  There 
is  something  horrible  and  unnatural  in  the  attempt  of  a  son 
to  slay  his  own  father;  and  since  he  fails  to  execute  his  pur- 
pose, there  is  no  tragical  effect  produced.  The  spectator  ought 
not  to  be  shocked  unnecessarily. 

3  c-EVTaOsts-  pro  tTreireivdf^iei'or.  Sic,  ut  erat,  eusem  intentans. 
— Musojrave. 

■*  This  description  of  the  two  ill-fated  lovers,  the  dying  and 
the  dead,  contains  the  very  essence  of  poetry  and  tragic  beauty. 
A  finer  subject  for  a  picture  cannot  well  be  imagined. 

^  There  is  something  very  striking  and  fearful  in  the  moody 
silence  of  deep  passion  and  despair. 

SeSotx^  OTTwr 

fi!)  \  rfjsr  (Tiwn-fiT  rfjao'  dvapprjiei  KaKti. — CEdip.  Tvran.  1074. 

A  few  lines  below,  the  Chorus  also  expresses  this  same  feeling 
of  apprehension  from  the  same  cause. 


I249-I280.]  ANTIGONE.  165 

roof  of  the  palace,  will  appoint  her  maids  to  mourn  a  domes- 
tic sorrow  ;  for  she  is  not  devoid  of  judgment,  so  as  to  com- 
mit what  is  im]3roper. 

Ch.  I  know  not ;  for  to  me,  at  least,  a  deep  silence  seems 
to  portend  something  grievous,  and  an  excess  of  clamorous 
grief  to  be  without  consequence. 

Mess.  But  going  within  the  palace,  we  will  inform  our- 
selves whether  she  secretly  conceals  in  her  enraged  heart 
any  unlawful  purpose;  for  your  suggestion  is  good,  and 
there  is  something  grievous  in  too  deep  silence. 

Ch.  And  in  truth  here  comes  the  king  himself,  having  a 
memorable  token  in  his  hand,^  if  we  may  lawfully  so  say — 
no  calamity  from  a  foreign  source,  but  he  himself  its  guilty 
author. 

\_Enter  Creon,  leaning  upon  the  body  of  his  son,  borne  on 
a  litter.  ] 

Cr.  Alas  !  the  irreparable  and  deadly  errors  of  a  per- 
verted mind  !  O  ye,  who  look  on  the  kindred  slayers  and 
the  slain  !  Oh  me  !  for  the  infatuation  of  my  counsels  !  O 
my  son  !  my  son  !  in  your  youth  by  an  untimely  fate  [woe, 
woe,  woe,  woe  !],  thou  hast  died,  thou  hast  departed  by  mine, 
not  thy  rashness  ! 

Ch.  Ah  me  !  how  you  seem  too  late  to  perceive  justice  ! 

Cr.  Ah  me  !  I  wretched  gain  it  by  experience ;  and  on 
my  head  the  god  then  dashed  with  heavy  impulse,  and 
drove  me  on  to  furious  ways  ;  having,  alas  !  overturned  to 
be  trampled  beneath  foot  my  former  joy.  Alas  !  alas  !  O  the 
toils  of  mortals  !  hapless  toils  ! 

Messenger.  O  master,  how,  both  having  the  possessing, 
you  bear  these  evils  in  your  hands,  and  you  seem  coming 
soon  about  to  behold  other  evils  in  your  palace. 

1  Creou,  it  would  appear  from  this,  comes  in,  carrying  the 
dead  body  of  Hsemou.  Shakespeare,  in  a  similar  way,  intro- 
duces Lear  with  Cordelia  iu  his  arms.  This  iucideut  is  well 
calculated  for  stage  effect;  but  the  Goths  who  have  mangled 
Lear  for  representation,  have  now  left  out  the  scene  of  "that 
fair  dead  daughter." — Tr.  Macready,  however,  has  shown  his 
wonted  judgment  by  its  restoration.  In  the  present  scene, 
Vaudenhoff's  action  and  declamation  merited  the  highest  com- 
mendation.— B. 


i66  ANTIGONE.  [1281-1325. 

Cr.  And  what,  after  these  calamities,  is  there  still  more 
calamitous  ? 

Mess.  Your  wife  is  dead,  the  fall  mother  of  this  corpse, 
in  an  mihappy  fate  by  wounds  just  fresh  inflicted. 

Cr.  O  port  of  the  grave,  that  no  expiation  may  soothe, 
why,  why  do  you  destroy  me  ?  O  thou  that  hast  conveyed 
to  me  the  evil  tidings  of  sorrow,  what  a  tale  dost  thou  tell? 
Alas  !  alas  !  thou  hast  a  second  time  dispatched  a  dead  man. 
What,  O  man,  dost  thou  say?  What  new  intelligence  dost 
thou  deliver?  Woe,  woe,  woe,  Avoe  !  that  the  death  of  my 
wife  by  murder  is  added  to  the  destruction  of  my  son  ? 

Mess.  You  may  behold  it ;  for  the  body  is  no  longer  in 
the  inner  recesses. 

[By  a  movement  of  the  eKKVK'Xru.ia  the  scene  opens  and  discovers' 
the  body  of  Eurydice,  surrounded  by  her  cdtendants.'\ 

Cr.  Woe  is  me  !  this  other  succeeding  evil  I  wretched 
behold.  What  then,  what  fate  yet  awaits  me?  I,  an  un- 
happy wretch,  am  already  bearing  in  my  arms  my  son,  and 
I  see  opposite  that  other  dead  body.  Alas  I  alas,  O  wretched 
mother  !  alas,  my  son  I 

Mess.  She,  in  keen  anger,  falling  down  beside  the  altar, 
closes  her  darkening  eyes,  having  lirst,  indeed,  bewailed  the 
illustrious  bed  of  Megareus,  who  formerly  died,  and  again  of 
him  before  us  ;  and  last,  having  imprecated  a  baneful  fortune 
on  you,  the  murderer  of  your  children. 

Cr.  Woe,  woe,  woe,  woe  !  I  am  fluttered  with  fear.  Why 
does  not  some  one  wound  me  through  Avith  a  two-edged 
sword?  A  wretched  man  am  I,  alas  !  alas  !  and  in  a  wretched 
fate  am  I  involved. 

Mess.  As  being  guilty  at  least  of  both  the  one  fate  and  the 
other,  you  were  denounced  by  her  as  she  died. 

Cr.  But  in  what  way  did  she  depart  from  life  in  the 
slaughter  ? 

Mess.  Having  with  her  own  hand  pierced  herself  below 
the  liver,  when  she  heard  the  deeply-mournful  sufferings 
of  her  son. 

Cr.  Woe  is  me  ;  this  guilt  will  never  apply  to  any  other 
but  me  ;  for  I,  a  miserable  wretch,  I  have  slain  thee  ;  I  say 
the  truth.  O  ye  attendants,  conduct  me,  with  all  speed  con- 
duct me  without ;   me,  who  am  no  more  than  nothingness. 


1326-1353-]  ANTIGONE.  167 

Ch.  You  bid  what  profits,  if  there  be  any  aught  that  profits 
in  misfortunes;  for  present  evils,  when  shortest  are  best. 

Cr.  I^et  it  come,  let  it  come,  let  the  last  of  my  fates  appear, 
bringing  most  happily  to  me  the  close  of  my  days :  let  it 
come,  let  it  come,  so  that  I  may  never  behold  another  day. 

Mess.  Those  things  are  future ;  of  these  things  present 
command  what  we  ought  to  do;  for  otliers  are  a  care  to 
those  whom  it  behooves  to  have  this  care. 

Cr.   But  I  prayed  for  those  things  I  desire. 

Mess.  Pray  now  for  nothing ;  since  there  is  no  escape  to 
mortals  from  predestined  calamity. 

[Creon  is  led  off.  ] 

Cr.  Lead  away  now  without  this  shadow  of  a  man,  who, 
O  my  son,  unwillingly  slew  thee,  and  thee,  too,  my  wife. 
O  wretched  man  that  I  am  !  I  neither  know  whither  nor 
to  whom  I  should  look  ;  for  every  thing  misguided,  both  in 
my  hands  and  over  my  head,  has  an  intolerable  fate  made 
to  burst  upon  me. 

Ch.  To  be  wise  is  the  first  part  of  happiness  ;  and  it  be- 
hooves us  not  to  be  guilty  of  irreverence  in  those  things  at 
least  that  concern  the  gods ;  for  the  haughty  words  of  the 
vaunting,  paying  the  penalty  of  severe  aflliction,  have  taught 
wisdom  to  old  age. 


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C^SAR — By  Hamilton  and  Clark. 
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CICERO — By  Hamilton  and  Clark. 
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judicious  union  (the  fruit  of  an  intelligent  compromise)  with  the  Interlinear 
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